ifornia 

onal 

ity 


To 

MRS.    KATHARINE    HOOKER 

OF  Los  ANGELES,  CALIFORNIA 

THESE    NOVELS    ARE    DEDICATED    IN    GRATEFUL 
REMEMBRANCE   OF    A    KlND    DEED 

ELIZABETH    STODDARD 


&u) 


(Z~ 


portrait  ot  Blisabetb  Stoooaro 

from  a 
Daouerreotppe. 


THE 


MORGESONS 


A  NOVEL 


BY 

ELIZABETH    STODDARD 

AUTHOR   OF    "TWO    MEN,"    "TEMPLE   HOUSE,"    ETC. 


1  Time  is  a  clever  devil." — BALZAC 


REVISED    EDITION 


PHILADELPHIA 

HENRY  T.    COATES  &  CO 

1901 


COPYRIGHT 

HENRY    T.   COATES   &    CO. 
1901 


PREFACE. 

I  suppose  it  was  environment  that  caused  me  to 
write  these  novels  ;  but  the  mystery  of  it  is,  that 
when  I  left  my  native  village  I  did  not  dream  that 
imagination  would  lead  me  there  again,  for  the 
simple  annals  of  our  village  and  domestic  ways  did 
not  interest  me;  neither  was  I  in  the  least  studious. 
My  years  were  passed  in  an  attempt  to  have  a  good 
time,  according  to  the  desires  and  fancies  of  youth. 
Of  literature  and  the  literary  life,  I  and  my  tribe 
knew  nothing ;  we  had  not  discovered  ' '  sermons 
in  stones. ' '  Where  then  was  the  panorama  of  my 
stories  and  novels  stored,  that  was  unrolled  in  my 
new  sphere  ?  Of  course,  being  moderately  intelli 
gent  I  read  everything  that  came  in  my  way,  but 
merely  for  amusement.  It  had  been  laid  up 
against  me  as  a  persistent  fault,  which  was  not 
profitable;  I  should  peruse  moral,  and  pious  works, 
or  take  up  sewing,  — that  interminable  thing,  ' '  white 
seam,"  which  filled  the  leisure  moments  of  the 
right-minded.  To  the  personnel of  writers  I  gave 
little  heed;  it  was  the  hero  they  created  that 
charmed  me,  like  Miss  Porter's  gallant  Pole, 
Sobieski,  or  the  ardent  Ernest  Maltravers,  of 
Bulwer. 

I  had  now  come  to  live  among  those  who  made 


2138415 


ii  PREFACE 

books,  and  were  interested  in  all  their  material,  for 
all  was  for  the  glory  of  the  whole.  Prefaces,  notes, 
indexes,  were  unnoticed  by  me, — even  Walter 
Scott's  and  Lord  Byron's.  I  began  to  get 
glimpses  of  a  profound  ignorance,  and  did  not  like 
the  position  as  an  outside  consideration.  These 
mental  productive  adversities  abased  me.  I  was 
well  enough  in  my  way,  but  nothing  was  expected 
from  me  in  their  way,  and  when  I  beheld  their 
ardor  in  composition,  and  its  fine  emulation,  like  "a 
sheep  before  her  shearers,"  I  was  dumb.  The  envi 
ronment  pressed  upon  me,  my  pride  was  touched  ; 
my  situation,  though  ' '  tolerable,  was  not  to  be 
endured. ' ' 

Fortunate  or  not,  we  were  poor.  It  was  not 
strange  that  I  should  marry,  said  those  who  knew 
the  step  I  had  taken ;  but  that  I  should  follow  that 
old  idyl ;  and  accept  the  destiny  of  a  garret  and 
a  crust  with  a  poet,  was  incredible!  Therefore, 
being  apart  from  the  diversions  of  society,  I  had 
many  idle  hours.  One  day  when  my  husband  was 
sitting  at  the  receipt  of  customs,  for  he  had  ob 
tained  a  modest  appointment,  I  sat  by  a  little  desk, 
where  my  portfolio  lay  open.  A  pen  was  near, 
which  I  took  up,  and  it  began  to  write,  wildly  like 
' '  Planchette ' '  upon  her  board,  or  like  a  kitten 
clutching  a  ball  of  yarn  fearfully.  But  doing  it 
again — I  could  not  say  why — my  mind  began 
upon  a  festival  in  my  childhood,  which  my  mother 
arranged  for  several  poor  old  people  at  Thanks- 


PREFACE  iii 

giving.     I  finished  the  sketch  in  private,  and  gave 

it  the  title  of  ' '  A  Christmas  Dinner, ' '  as  one  more 
modern.  I  put  in  occasional  "fiblets"  about  the 
respectable  guests,  Mrs.  Carver  and  Mrs.  Chand 
ler,  and  one  dreadful  little  girl  foisted  upon  me  to 
entertain.  It  pleased  the  editor  of  Harper1  s  Mag 
azine,  who  accepted  it,  and  sent  me  a  check  which 
would  look  wondrous  small  now.  I  wrote  similar 
sketches,  which  were  published  in  that  magazine. 
Then  I  announced  my  intention  of  writing  a  "long 
story, ' '  and  was  told  by  him  of  the  customs  that  he 
thought  I  ' '  lacked  the  constructive  faculty. ' '  I 
hope  that  I  am  writing  an  object  lesson,  either  of 
learning  how,  or  not  learning  how,  to  write. 

I  labored  daily, when  alone,  for  weeks;  how  many 
sheets  of  foolscap  I  covered,  and  dashed  to  earth, 
was  never  told.  Since,  by  my  ' '  infinite  pains  and 
groans,"  I  have  been  reminded  of  Barkis,  in 
"  David  Copperfield,"  when  he  crawled  out  of  his 
bed  to  get  a  guinea  from  his  strong  box  for 
David's  dinner.  Naturally,  I  sent  the  story  to 
Harper*  s  Magazine,  and  it  was  curtly  refused. 
My  husband,  moved  by  pity  by  my  discourage 
ment,  sent  it  to  Mr.  Lowell,  then  editor  of  the 
Atlantic  Monthly.  In  a  few  days  I  received  a  let 
ter  from  him,  which  made  me  very  happy.  He 
accepted  the  story,  and  wrote  me  then,  and  after 
wards,  letters  of  advice  and  suggestion.  I  think 
he  saw  through  my  mind,  its  struggles,  its  igno 
rance,  and  its  ambition.  Also  I  got  my  guinea 


iv  PREFACE 

for  my  pains.  The  Atlantic  Monthly  sent  me  a 
hundred  dollars.  I  doubt  but  for  Mr.  Lowell's 
interest  and  kindness  I  should  ever  have  tried 
prose  again.  I  owe  a  debt  of  gratitude  to  him 
which  I  shall  always  give  to  his  noble  memory. 

My  story  did  not  set  the  river  on  fire,  as  stories 
are  apt  to  do  nowadays.  It  attracted  so  little 
notice  from  those  I  knew,  and  knew  of,  that  natu 
rally  my  ambition  would  have  been  crushed.  Not 
withstanding,  and  saying  nothing  to  anybody,  I 
began  "  The  Morgesons,"  and  everywhere  I  went, 
like  Mary's  lamb,  my  MS.  was  sure  to  go.  Mean 
dering  along  the  path  of  that  family,  I  took  them 
much  to  heart,  and  finished  their  record  within  a 
year.  I  may  say  here,  that  the  clans  I  marshaled 
for  my  pages  had  vanished  from  the  sphere  of 
reality — in  my  early  day  the  village  Squire,  peer 
less  in  blue  broadcloth,  who  scolded,  advised, 
and  helped  his  poorer  neighbors  ;  the  widows,  or 
maidens,  who  accepting  service  "as  a  favor, ' ' 
often  remained  a  lifetime  as  friend  as  well  as 
' '  help  ; ' '  the  race  of  coast-wise  captains  and 
traders,  from  Maine  to  Florida,  as  acute  as  they 
were  ignorant;  the  rovers  of  the  Atlantic  and  the 
Pacific,  were  gone  not  to  return.  If  with  these 
characters  I  have  deserved  the  name  of  ' '  realist, ' '  J 
I  have  also  clothed  my  skeletons  with  the  robe  of 
romance.  ' '  The  Morgesons ' '  completed,  and  no 
objections  made  to  its  publication,  it  was  pub 
lished.  As  an  author  friend  happened  to  be  with 


PREFACE  v 

us,  almost  on  the  day  it  was  out,  I  gave  it  to  him 
to  read,  and  he  returned  it  to  me  with  the  remark 
that  there  were  "a  good  many  whiches  in  it." 
That  there  were,  I  must  own,  and  that  it  was  diffi 
cult  to  extirpate  them.  I  was  annoyed  at  their  fer 
tility.  The  inhabitants  of  my  ancient  dwelling 
place  pounced  upon  ' '  The  Morgesons, ' '  because 
i  they  were  convinced  it  would  prove  to  be  a  version 
J  of  my  relations,  and  my  own  life.  I  think  one 
copy  passed  from  hand  to  hand,  but  the  interest 
in  it  soon  blew  over,  and  I  have  not  been  noticed 
there  since. 

' '  Two  Men  ' '  I  began  as  I  did  the  others,  with 
a  single  motive;  the  shadow  of  a  man  passed  be 
fore  me,  and  I  built  a  visionary  fabric  round  him. 
I  have  never  tried  to  girdle  the  earth;  my  limits 
are  narrow  ;  the  modern  novel,  as  Andrew  Lang 
lately  calls  it, — with  its  love-making,  disquisition, 
description,  history,  theology,  ethics, — I  have  no 
sprinkling  of.  My  last  novel,  <(  Temple  House," 
was  personally  conducted,  so  far  that  I  went  to 
Plymouth  to  find  a  suitable  abode  for  my  hero, 
Angus  Gates,  and  to  measure  with  my  eye  the 
distance  between  the  bar  in  the  bay  and  the  shore, 
the  scene  of  a  famous  wreck  before  the  Revolu 
tion.  As  my  stories  and  novels  were  never  in 
touch  with  my  actual  life,  they  seem  now  as  if  they 
were  written  by  a  ghost  of  their  time.  It  is  to 
strangers  from  strange  places  that  I  owe  the  most 
sympathetic  recognition.  Some  have  come  to  me, 


vi  PREFACE 

and  from  many  I  have  had  letters  that  warmed  my 
heart,  and  cheered  my  mind.  Beside  the  name  of 
Mr.  Lowell,  I  mention  two  New  England  names, 
to  spare  me  the  fate  of  the  prophet  of  the  Gospel, 
the  late  Maria  Louise  Pool,  whose  lamentable 
death  came  far  too  early,  and  Nathaniel  Hawthorne, 
who  lived  to  read  "  The  Morgesons"  only,  and  to 
write  me  a  characteristic  letter.  With  some  slight 
criticism,  he  wrote,  "  Pray  pardon  my  frankness, 
for  what  is  the  use  of  saying  anything,  unless  we  say 
what  we  think  ?  .  .  .  Otherwise  it  seemed  to  me 
as  genuine  and  lifelike  as  anything  that  pen  and  ink 
can  do.  There  are  very  few  books  of  which  I  take 
the  trouble  to  have  any  opinion  at  all,  or  of  which 
I  could  retain  any  memory  so  long  after  reading 
them  as  I  do  of  '  The  Morgesons. '  ' 

Could  better  words  be  written  for  the  send-off  of 
these  novels  ? 

ELIZABETH   STODDARD. 

York,  May  2nd,  1901. 


THE  MORGESONS. 


CHAPTER  I. 


child,"  said  my  aunt  Mercy,  looking  at  me 
1  with  indigo-colored  eyes,  "  is  possessed." 

When  my  aunt  said  this  I  was  climbing  a  chest  of  drawers, 
by  its  knobs,  in  order  to  reach  the  book-shelves  above  it, 
where  my  favorite  work,  "  The  Northern  Regions,"  was 
kept,  together  with  "  Baxter's  Saints'  Rest,"  and  other  vol 
umes  of  that  sort,  belonging  to  my  mother;  and  those  my 
father  bought  for  his  own  reading,  and  which  I  liked, 
though  I  only  caught  a  glimpse  of  their  meaning  by 
strenuous  study.  To  this  day  Sheridan's  Comedies, 
Sterne's  Sentimental  Journey,  and  Captain  Cook's  Voy 
ages  are  so  mixed  up  in  my  remembrance  that  I  am  still 
uncertain  whether  it  was  Sterne  who  ate  baked  dog  with 
Maria,  or  Sheridan  who  wept  over  a  dead  ass  in  the  Sand 
wich  Islands. 

After  I  had  made  a  dash  at  and  captured  my  book,  I 
seated  myself  with  difficulty  on  the  edge  of  the  chest  of 
drawers,  and  was  soon  lost  in  an  Esquimaux  hut.  Presently, 
in  crossing  my  feet,  my  shoes,  which  were  large,  dropped 
on  the  painted  floor  with  a  loud  noise.  I  looked  at  my 
aunt  ;  her  regards  were  still  fixed  upon  me,  but  they  did 
not  interfere  with  her  occupation  of  knitting  ;  neither  did 
they  interrupt  her  habit  of  chewing  cloves,  flagroot,  or 
grains  of  rice.  If  these  articles  were  not  at  hand,  she 
chewed  a  small  chip. 

"  Aunt  Merce,  poor  Hepburn  chewed  his  shoes,  when  he 
was  in  Davis's  Straits." 

"  Mary,  look  at  that  child's  stockings." 

Mother  raised  her  eyes  from  the  Boston  Recorder,  and 
the  article  she  had  been  absorbed  in  —  the  proceedings  of  an 
Ecclesiastical  Council,  which  had  discussed  (she  read  aloud 


*  THE  MORGESONS. 

to  Aunt  Merce)  the  conduct  of  Brother  Thaddeus  Turner, 
pastor  of  the  Congregational  Church  of  Hyena.  Brother 
Thaddeus  had  spoken  lightly  of  the  difference  between 
Sprinkling  and  Immersion,  and  had  even  called  Hyena's 
Baptist  minister  "Brother"  He  was  contumacious  at  first, 
was  Brother  Thaddeus,  but  Brother  Boanerges  from  An- 
dover  finally  floored  him. 
-»  "  Cassandra,"  said  mother,  presently,  "  come  here." 

I  obeyed  with  reluctance,  making  a  show  of  turning  down 
a  leaf. 

"  Child,"  she  continued,  and  her  eyes  wandered  over  me 
dreamily,  till  they  dropped  on  my  stockings  ;  "  why  will  you 
waste  so  much  time  on  unprofitable  stories  ? " 

"  Mother,  I  hate  good  stories,  all  but  the  Shepherd  of 
Salisbury  Plain  ;  I  like  that,  because  it  makes  me  hungry 
to  read  about  the  roasted  potatoes  the  shepherd  had  for 
breakfast  and  supper.  Would  it  make  me  thankful  if  you 
only  gave  me  potatoes  without  salt  ?  " 

"  Not  unless  your  heart  is  right  before  God." 

"  '  The  Lord  my  Shepherd  is,'  "  sang  Aunt  Merce. 

I  put  my  hands  over  my  ears,  and  looked  defiantly  round 
the  room.  Its  walls  are  no  longer  standing,  and  the  hands 
of  its  builders  have  crumbled  to  dust.  Some  mental  acci 
dent  impressed  this  picture  on  the  purblind  memory  of 
childhood. 

We  were  in  mother's  winter  room.  She  was  in  a  low, 
chintz-covered  chair  ;  Aunt  Merce  sat  by  the  window,  in  a 
straight-backed  chair,  that  rocked  querulously,  and  likewise 
covered  with  chintz,  of  a  red  and  yellow  pattern.  Before 
the  lower  half  of  the  windows  were  curtains  of  red  serge, 
which  she  rattled  apart  on  their  brass  rods,  whenever  she 
heard  a  footstep,  or  the  creak  of  a  wheel  in  the  road  be 
low.  The  walls  were  hung  with  white  paper,  through 
which  ran  thread-like  stripes  of  green.  A  square  of  green 
and  chocolate-colored  English  carpet  covered  the  middle 
of  the  floor,  and  a  row  of  straw  chairs  stood  around 
it,  on  the  bare,  lead-colored  boards.  A  huge  bed,  wilh 
a  chintz  top  shaped  like  an  elephant's  back,  was  in  one  cor 
ner,  and  a  six-legged  mahogany  table  in  another.  One  side 
of  the  room  where  the  fireplace  was  set  was  paneled  in 
wood;  its  fire  had  burned  down  in  the  shining  Franklin 
stove,  and  broken  brands  were  standing  upright.  The 


THE  MORGESONS.  3 

charred  backlog  still  smoldered,  its  sap  hissed  and  bubbled 
at  each  end. 

Aunt  Merce  rummaged  her  pocket  for  flagroot ;  mother 
resumed  her  paper. 

"  May  I  put  on,  for  a  little  while,  my  new  slippers  ?  "  I 
asked,  longing  to  escape  the  oppressive  atmosphere  of  the 
room. 

"  Yes,"  answered  mother,  "  but  come  in  soon,  it  will  be 
supper-time." 

I  bounded  away,  found  my  slippers,  and  was  walking 
down  stairs  on  tiptoe,  holding  up  my  linsey-woolsey  frock, 
when  I  saw  the  door  of  my  great-grandfather's  room  ajar. 
I  pushed  it  open,  went  in,  and  saw  a  very  old  man,  his 
head  bound  with  a  red-silk  handkerchief,  bolstered  in  bed. 
His  wife,  grandmother-in-law,  sat  by  the  fire  reading  a 
great  Bible. 

"  Marm  Tamor,  will  you  please  show  me  Ruth  and 
Boaz  ? "  I  asked. 

She  complied  by  turning  over  the  leaves  till  she  came  to 
the  picture. 

"  Did  Ruth  love  Boaz  dreadfully  much  ? " 

"  Oh,  oh,"  groaned  the  old  man,  "  what  is  the  imp  doing 
here  ?  Drive  her  away.  Scat." 

I  skipped  out  by  a  side  door,  down  an  alley  paved  with 
blue  pebbles,  swung  the  high  gate  open,  and  walked  up 
and  down  the  gravel  walk  which  bordered  the  roadside,  ad 
miring  my  slippers,  and  wishing  that  some  acquaintance 
with  poor  shoes  could  see  me.  I  thought  then  I  would 
climb  the  high  gateposts,  which  had  a  flat  top,  and  take  there 
the  position  of  the  little  girl  in  "  The  Shawl  Dance."  I  had 
no  sooner  taken  it  than  Aunt  Merce  appeared  at  the  door, 
and  gave  a  shriek  at  the  sight,  which  tempted  me  to 
jump  toward  her  with  extended  arms.  I  was  seized  and 
carried  into  the  house,  where  supper  was  administered, 
and  I  was  put  to  bed. 


A 


CHAPTER  II. 

T  this  time  I  was  ten  years  old.  We  lived  in  a  New 
England  village,  Surrey,  which  was  situated  on  an 
inlet  of  a  large  bay  that  opened  into  the  Atlantic. 


4  THE  MORGESONS. 

From  the  observatory  of  our  house  we  could  see  how  the 
inlet  was  pinched  by  the  long  claws  of  the  land,  which 
nearly  enclosed  it.  Opposite  the  village,  some  ten  miles 
across,  a  range  of  islands  shut  out  the  main  waters  of  the 
bay.  For  miles  on  the  outer  side  of  the  curving  prongs  of 
land  stretched  a  rugged,  desolate  coast,  indented  with  coves 
and  creeks,  lined  with  bowlders  of  granite  half  sunken  in 
the  sea,  and  edged  by  beaches  overgrown  with  pale  sedge,  or 
covered  with  beds  of  seaweed.  Nothing  alive,  except  the 
gulls,  abode  on  these  solitary  shores.  No  lighthouse  stood 
on  any  point,  to  shake  its  long,  warning  light  across  the 
mariners' wake.  Now  and  then  a  drowned  man  floated  in  */ 
among  the  sedge,  or  a  small  craft  went  to  pieces  on  the 
rocks.  When  an  easterly  wind  yrevailed,  the  coast  re 
sounded  with  the  bellowing  sea,  which  brought  us  tidings 
from  those  inaccessible  spots.  We  heard  its  roar  as  it 
leaped  over  the  rocks  on  Gloster  Point,  and  its  long,  un 
broken  wail  when  it  rolled  in  on  Whitefoot  Beach.  In  mild 
weather,  too,  when  our  harbor  was  quiet,  we  still  heard  its 
whimper.  Behind  the  village,  the  ground  rose  toward  the 
north,  where  the  horizon  was  bounded  by  woods  of  oak 
and  pine,  intersected  by  crooked  roads,  which  led  to  towns  . 
and  villages  near  us.  The  inland  scenery  was  tame ;  no  -' 
hill  or  dale  broke  its  dull  uniformity.  Cornfields  and 
meadows  of  red  grass  walled  with  gray  stone,  lay  between 
the  village  and  the  border  of  the  woods.  Seaward  it  was 
enchanting — beautiful  under  the  sun  and  moon  and  clouds. 

Our  family  had  lived  in  Surrey  for  years.  Probably  v^ 
some  Puritan  of  the  name  of  Morgeson  had  moved  from 
an  earlier  settlement,  and,  appropriating  a  few  acres  in  what 
was  now  its  center,  lived  long  enough  upon  them  to  see  his 
sons  and  daughters  married  to  the  sons  and  daughters  of 
similar  settlers.  S_ojojirjia.me  was  in  perpetuation,  though 
none  of  our  race  ever  madeTaTlriark in  his  circle,  or  at 
tained  a  place  among  the  great  ones  of  his  day.  The  family 
recipes  for  curing  herbs  and  hams,  and  making  cordials, 
were  in  better  preservation  than  the  memory  of  their  makers. 
It  is  certain  that  they  were  not  a  progressive  or  changeable  <f 
family.  No  tradition  of  any  individuality  remains  concern 
ing  them.  There  was  a  confusion  in  the  minds  of  the  sur 
vivors  of  the  various  generations  about  the  degree  of  their 
relationship  to  those  who  were  buried,  and  whose  names  and 


THE  MORGESONS.  5 

ages  simply  were  cut  in  the  stones  which  headed  their 
graves.  The  meum  and  tuum  of  blood  were  inextricably 
mixed  ;  so  they  contented  themselves  with  giving  their 
children  the  old  Christian  names  which  were  carved  on  the 
headstones,  and  which,  in  time,  added  a  still  more  profound 
darkness  to  the  anti-heraldic  memory  of  the  Morgesons. 
They  had  no  knowledge  of  that  treasure  which  so  many  of 
our  New  England  families  are  boastful  of — the  Ancestor 
who  came  over  in  the  Mayflower,  or  by  himself,  with  a 
grant  of  land  from  Parliament.  It  was  not  known  whether 
two  or  three  brothers  sailed  together  from  the  Old  World 
and  settled  in  the  New.  They  had  no  portrait,  nor  curious 
chair,  nor  rusty  weapon — no  old  Bible,  nor  drinking  cup, 
nor  remnant  of  brocade. 

Morgeson — Born — Lived — Died — were  all  their  archives. 
But  there  is  a  dignity  in  mere  perpetuity,  a  strength  in  the 
narrowest  affinities.  This  dignity  and  strength  were  theirs. 
They  are  still  vital  in  our  rural  population.  Occasionally 
something  fine  is  their  result  ;  an  aboriginal  reappears  to 
prove  the  plastic  powers  of  nature. 

My  great-grandfather,  Locke  Morgeson,  the  old  man 
whose  head  I  saw  bound  in  a  red  handkerchief,  was  the 
first  noticeable  man  of  the  name.  He  was  a  scale  of  enthu 
siasms,  ranging  from  the  melancholy  to  the  sarcastic.  When 
I  heard  him  talked  of,  it  seemed  to  me  that  he  was  born 
under  the  influence  of  the  sea,  while  the  rest  of  the  tribe 
inherited  the  character  of  the  landscape.  Comprehension 
of  life,  and  comprehension  of  self,  came  too  late  for  him  to 
make  either  of  value.  The  spirit  of  progress,  however, 
which  prompted  his  schemes  benefited  others.  The  most 
that  could  be  said  of  him  was  that  he  had  the  rudiments  of 
a  Founder. 

My  father,  whose  name  was  Locke  Morgeson  also,  mar 
ried  early.  My  mother  was  five  years  his  elder  ;  her  maiden 
name  was  Mary  Warren.  She  was  the  daughter  of  Philip 
Warren,  of  Barmouth,  near  Surrey.  He  was  the  best  of  the 
Barmouth  tailors,  though  he  never  changed  the  cut  of  his 
garments  ;  he  was  a  rigidly  pious  man,  of  great  influence  in 
the  church,  and  was  descended  from  Sir  Edward  Warren, 
a  gentleman  of  Devon,  who  was  knighted  by  Queen  Eliza 
beth.  The  name  of  his  more  immediate  ancestor,  Richard 
Warren,  was  in  "  New  England's  Memorial."  How  father 


6  THE  MORGESONS. 

first  met  mother  I  know  not.  She  was  singularly  beauti 
ful — beautiful  even  to  the  day  of  her  death  ;  but  she  was 
poor,  and  without  connection,  for  Philip  Warren  was  the 
last  of  his  name.  What  the  Warrens  might  have  been  was 
nothing  to  the  Morgesons  ;  they  themselves  had  no  past, 
and  only  realized  the  present.  They  never  thought  of  in 
quiring  into  that  matter,  so  they  opposed,  with  great  prompt 
ness,  father's  wish  to  marry  Mary  Warren.  All,  except  old 
Locke  Morgeson,  his  grandfather,  who  rode  over  to  Bar- 
mouth  to  see  her  one  day,  and  when  he  came  back  told 
father  to  take  her,  offered  him  half  his  house  to  live  in, 
and  promised  to  push  him  in  the  world.  His  offer  quelled 
the  rioters,  silencing  in  particular  the  opposition  of  John 
Morgeson,  father's  father. 

In  a  month  from  this  time,  Locke  Morgeson,  Jr.,  took 
Mary  Warren  from  her  father's  house  as  his  wife.  Grand 
father  WTarren  prayed  a  long,  unintelligible  prayer  over  them, 
helped  them  into  the  large,  yellow-bottomed  chaise  which 
belonged  to  Grandfather  Locke,  and  the  young  couple  drove 
to  their  new  home,  the  old  mansion.  Grandfather  Locke 
went  away  in  the  same  yellow-bottomed  chaise  a  week  after, 
and  returned  in  a  few  days  with  a  tall  lady  of  fifty  by  his 
side — "  Marm  Tamor,"  a  twig  of  the  Morgeson  tree,  being 
his  third  cousin,  whom  he  had  married.  This  marriage  was 
Grandfather  Locke's  last  mistake.  He  was  then  near  eighty, 
but  lived  long  enough  to  fulfill  his  promises  to  father.  The 
next  year  I  was  born,  and  four  years  after,  my  sister  Veronica. 
Grandfather  Locke  named  us,  and  charged  father  not  to 
consult  the  Morgeson  tombstones  for  names.  7 


CHAPTER  III. 

«  IV/fRS.  SAUNDERS,"  said  mother,  "don't  let  that 
IVl  soap  boil  over.  Gassy,  keep  away  from  it." 

"  Lord,"  replied  Mrs.  Saunders,  "  there's  no  fat  in  the 
bones  to  bile.  Cassy's  grown  dreadful  fast,  ain't  she  ?  How 
long  has  the  old  man  been  dead,  Mis  Morgeson  ?  " 

"  Three  years,  Mrs.  Saunders." 

"  How  time  do  fly,"  remarked  Mrs.  Saunders,  mopping 
her  wrinkled  face  with  a  dark-blue  handkerchief.  "  The 


THE   MORGESONS.  1 

winter's  sass  is  hardly  put  in  the  cellar  'fore  we  have  to  cut 
off  the  sprouts,  and  up  the  taters  for  planting  agin.  We 
shall  all  foller  him  soon."  And  she  stirred  the  bones  in 
the  great  kettle  with  the  vigor  of  an  ogress. 

When  I  heard  her  ask  the  question  about  Grandfather 
Locke,  the  interval  that  had  elapsed  since  his  death  swept 
through  my  mind.  WThat  a  little  girl  I  was  at  the  time  ! 
How  much  had  since  happened  !  But  no  thought  remained 
with  me  long.  I  was  about  to  settle  whether  I  would  go 
to  the  beach  and  wade,  or  into  the  woods  for  snake-flowers, 
till  school-time,  when  my  attention  was  again  arrested  by 
Mrs.  Saunders  saying,  "  I  spose  Marm  Tamor  went  off  with 
a  large  slice,  and  Mr.  John  Morgeson  is  mad  to  this  day  ?  " 

Mother  was  prevented  from  answering  by  the  appearance 
of  the  said  Mr.  John  Morgeson,  who  darkened  the  thresh 
old  of  the  kitchen  door,  but  advanced  no  further.  I  looked 
at  him  with  curiosity  ;  if  he  were  mad,  he  might  be  inter 
esting.  He  was  a  large,  portly  man,  over  sixty,  with  splen 
did  black  hair  slightly  grizzled,  a  prominent  nose,  and  fair 
complexion.  I  did  not  like  him,  and  determined  not  to 
speak  to  him. 

"  Say  good-morning,  Cassandra,"  said  mother,  in  a  low 
voice. 

"  No,"  I  answered  loudly,  "  I  am  not  fond  of  my  grand 
father." 

Mrs.  Saunders  mopped  her  face  again,  grinning  with 
delight  behind  her  handkerchief. 

"  Debby,  my  wife,  wants  you,  Mis  Saunders,  after  you 
have  made  Mary's  soap,"  he  said. 

'  Surely,"  she  answered. 

'  Where  is  the  black  horse  to-day  ?  "  he  asked  mother. 

'  Locke  has  gone  to  Milford  with  him." 

'  I  wanted  the  black  horse  to-day,"  he  said,  turning  away. 

'  He's  a  mighty  grand  man,  he  is,"  commented  Mrs.  Saun 
ders.  "  I  am  pesky  glad,  Mis  Morgeson,  that  you  have 
never  put  foot  in  his  house.  I  'plaud  your  sperit !  " 

"  School-time,  Gassy,"  said  mother.  "  Will  you  have 
some  gingerbread  to  carry  ?  Tell  me  when  you  come  home 
what  you  have  read  in  the  New  Testament." 

"  My  boy  does  read  beautiful,"  said  Mrs.  Saunders. 
"Where's  the  potash,  Mis  Morgeson?" 

I  heard  the   bell  toll  as  I  loitered  along  the  roadside, 


8  THE  MORGESONS. 

pulling  a  dandelion  here  and  there,  for  it  was  in  the 
month  of  May,  and  throwing  it  in  the  rut  for  the  next 
i  wheel  to  crush.  When  I  reached  the  schoolhouse  I  saw 
**  through  the  open  door  that  the  New  Testament  exercise 
was  over.  The  teacher,  Mrs.  Desire  Cushman,  a  tall,  slen 
der  woman,  in  a  flounced  calico  dress,  was  walking  up  and 
down  the  room ;  a  class  of  boys  and  girls  stood  in  a  zig 
zag  line  before  her,  swaying  to  and  fro,  and  drawling 
the  multiplication  table.  She  was  yawning  as  I  entered, 
which  exercise  forbade  her  speaking,  and  I  took  my  seat 
without  a  reprimand.  The  flies  were  just  coming  ;  I 
watched  their  sticky  legs  as  they  feebly  crawled  over  my  old 
unpainted  notched  desk,  and  crumbled  my  gingerbread  for 
them  ;  but  they  seemed  to  have  no  appetite.  Some  of  the 
younger  children  were  drowsy  already,  lulled  by  the  hum  of 
the  whisperers.  Feeling  very  dull,  I  asked  permission  to  go 
to  the  water-pail  for  a  drink  ;  let  the  tin  cup  fall  into  the 
water  so  that  the  floor  might  be  splashed  ;  made  faces  at 
the  good  scholars,  and  did  what  I  could  to  make  the  time 
pass  agreeably.  At  noon  mother  sent  my  dinner,  with  the 
request  that  I  should  stay  till  night,  on  account  of  my 
being  in  the  way  while  the  household  was  in  the  crisis  of 
soap-making  and  whitewashing.  I  was  exasperated,  but  I 
stayed.  In  the  afternoon  the  minister  came  with  two  strang 
ers  to  visit  the  school.  I  went  through  my  lessons  with  dig 
nified  inaccuracy,  and  was  commended.  Going  back,  I 
happened  to  step  on  a  loose  board  under  my  seat.  I 
determined  to  punish  Mrs.  Desire  for  the  undeserved  praise 
I  had  just  received,  and  pushed  the  board  till  it  clattered 
and  made  a  dust.  When  Mrs.  Desire  detected  me  she 
turned  white  with  anger.  I  pushed  it  again,  making  so  much 
noise  that  the  visitors  turned  to  see  the  cause.  She  shook 
her  head  in  my  direction,  and  I  knew  what  was  in  store, 
as  we  had  been  at  enmity  a  long  time,  and  she  only  waited 
for  a  decisive  piece  of  mischief  on  my  part.  As  soon  as 
the  visitors  had  gone,  she  said  in  a  loud  voice  :  "  Cassan 
dra  Morgeson,  take  your  books  and  go  home.  You  shall 
not  come  here  another  day." 

I  was  glad  to  go,  and  marched  home  with  the  air  of  a 
conqueror,  going  to  the  keeping-room  where  mother  sat 
with  a  basket  of  sewing.  I  saw  Temperance  Tinkham,  the 
help,  a  maiden  of  thirty,  laying  the  table  for  supper. 


THE  MORGESONS.  9 

"  Don't  wrinkle  the  tablecloth,"  she  said  crossly  ;  "  and 
hang  up  your  bonnet  in  the  entry,  where  it  belongs,"  taking 
it  from  me  as  she  gave  the  order,  and  going  out  to  hang  it 
up  herself. 

"  I  am  turned  out  of  school,  mother,  for  pushing  a  board 
with  my  foot."  , 

"  Hi,"  said  father,  who  was  waiting  for  his  supper  ;  "  come   * 
here,"  and   he  whistled  to  me.     He  took  me  on  his  knee, 
while  mother  looked  at  me  with  doubt  and  sorrow. 

"  She  is  almost  a  woman,  Mary." 

"  Locke,  do  you  know  that  I  am  thirty-eight  ?" 

"  And  you  are  thirty-three,  father,"  I  exclaimed.  He 
looked  younger.  I  thought  him  handsome  ;  he  had  a  frank,  v/ 
firm  face,  an  abundance  of  light,  curly  hair,  and  was  very 
robust.  I  took  off  his  white  beaver  hat,  and  pushed  the 
curls  away  from  his  forehead.  He  had  his  riding-whip  in 
his  hand.  I  took  that,  too,  and  snapped  it  at  our  little  dog, 
Kip.  Father's  clothes  also  pleased  me — a  lavender-colored 
coat,  with  brass  buttons,  and  trousers  of  the  same  color.  I 
mentally  composed  for  myself  a  suit  to  match  his,  and 
thought  how  well  we  should  look  calling  at  Lady  Teazle's 
house  in  London,  only  I  was  worried  because  my  bonnet 
seemed  to  be  too  large  for  me.  A  loud  crash  in  the  kitchen 
disturbed  my  dream,  and  Temperance  rushed  in,  dragging 
my  sister  Veronica,  whose  hair  was  streaming  with  milk  ;  \/ 
she  had  pulled  a  panful  over  her  from  the  buttery  shelf, 
while  Temperance  was  taking  up  the  supper.  Father 
laughed,  but  mother  said  : 

"  What  have  I  done,  to  be  so  tormented  by  these  terrible 
children  ?" 

Her  mild  blue  eyes  blazed,  as  she  stamped  her  foot  and 
clenched  her  hands.  Father  took  his  hat  and  left  the  room. 
Veronica  sat  down  on  the  floor,  with  her  eyes  fixed  upon 
her,  and  I  leaned  against  the  wall.  It  was  a  gust  that  I 
knew  would  soon  blow  over.  Veronica  knew  it  also.  At 
the  right  moment  she  cried  out :  "  Help  Verry,  she  is 
sorry." 

"  Do  eat  your  supper,"  Temperance  called  out  in  a  loud 
voice.  "  The  hash  is  burnt  to  flinders." 

She  remained  in  the  room  to  comment  on  our  appetites, 
and  encourage  Veronica,  who  was  never  hungry,  to  eat. 

Veronica  was  an  elfish  creature,  nine  years  old,  diminu-  J 


10  THE  MORGESONS. 

tive  and  pale.  Her  long,  silky  brown  hair,  which  was  as 
straight  as  an  Indian's,  like  mother's,  and  which  she  tore 
out  when  angry,  usually  covered  her  face,  and  her  wild 
eyes  looked  wilder  still  peeping  through  it.  She  was  too 
/  strange-looking  for  ordinary  people  to  call  her  pretty,  and 
so  odd  in  her  behavior,  so  full  of  tricks,  that  I  did  not 
love  her.  She  was  a  silent  child,  and  liked  to  be  alone. 
But  whoever  had  the  charge  of  her  must  be  watchful. 
She  tasted  everything,  and  burnt  everything,  within  her 
reach.  A  blazing  fire  was  too  strong  a  temptation  to  be  re 
sisted.  The  disappearance  of  all  loose  articles  was  ascribed 
to  her ;  but  nothing  was  said  about  it,  for  punishment 
made  her  more  impish  and  daring  in  her  pursuits.  She  had 
a  habit  of  frightening  us  by  hiding,  and  appearing  from 
places  where  no  one  had  thought  of  looking  for  her.  Peo 
ple  shook  their  heads  when  they  observed  her.  The  Mor- 
^  gesons  smiled  significantly  when  she  was  spoken  of,  and 
asked  : 

"  Do  you  think  she  is  like  her  mother  ?" 

There  was  a  conflict  in  mother's  mind  respecting  Ver- 
J  onica.  She  did  not  love  her  as  she  loved  me  ;  but  strove 
the  harder  to  fulfill  her  duty.  When  Verry  suffered 
long  and  mysterious  illnesses,  which  made  her  helpless  for 
weeks,  she  watched  her  day  and  night,  but  rarely  caressed 
her.  At  other  times  Verry  was  left  pretty  much  to  her 
self  and  her  ways,  which  were  so  separate  from  mine  that 
I  scarcely  saw  her.  We  grew  up  ignorant  of  each  other's 
character,  though  Verry  knew  me  better  than  I  knew  her ; 
*  in  time  I  discovered  that  she  had  closely  observed  me, 
when  I  was  most  unaware. 

We  began  to  prosper  about  this  time. 

"  Old  Locke  Morgeson  had  a  long  head,"  people  said, 
when  they  talked  of  our  affairs.  Father  profited  by  his 
grandfather's  plans,  and  his  means,  too  ;  less  visionary,  he 
had  modified  and  brought  out  practically  many  of  his  pro 
jections.  Old  Locke  had  left  little  to  his  son  John  Morge 
son,  in  the  belief  that  father  was  the  man  to  carry  out  his 
ideas.  Besides  money,  he  left  him  a  tract  of  ground  run 
ning  north  and  south,  a  few  rods  beyond  the  old  house,  and 
desired  him  to  build  upon  it.  This  he  was  now  doing,  and 
we  expected  to  move  into  our  new  house  before  autumn. 

All  the  Morgesons  wished  to  put  money  in  a  company, 


THE  MORGESONS.  II 

as  soon  as  father  could  prove  that  it  would  be  profit 
able.  They  were  ready  to  own  shares  in  the  ships  which 
he  expected  to  build,  when  it  was  certain  that  they  would 
make  lucky  voyages.  He  declined  their  offers,  but  they 
all  "  knuckled  "  to  the  man  who  had  been  bold  enough  to 
break  the  life-long  stagnation  of  Surrey,  and  approved  his 
plans  as  they  matured.  His  mind  was  filled  with  the  hope 
of  creating  a  great  business  which  should  improve  Surrey. 
New  streets  had  been  cut  through  his  property  and  that  of 
grandfather,  who,  narrow  as  he  was,  could  not  resist  the 
popular  spirit ;  lots  had  been  laid  out,  and  cottages  had 
gone  up  upon  them.  To  matters  of  minor  importance  father 
gave  little  heed  ;  his  domestic  life  was  fast  becoming  a 
habit.  The  constant  enlargement  of  his  schemes  was 
already  a  necessary  stimulant. 

I  did  not  go  back  to  Mrs.  Desire's  school.  Mother  said 
that  I  must  be  useful  at  home.  She  sent  me  to  Temperance, 
and  Temperance  sent  me  to  play,  or  told  me  to  go  "a 
visitin'."  I  did  not  care  to  visit,  for  in  consequence  of 
being  turned  out  of  school,  which  was  considered  an  indel 
ible  disgrace  and  long  remembered,  my  schoolmates  re 
garded  me  in  the  light  of  a  Pariah,  and  put  on  insufferably 
superior  airs  when  they  saw  me.  So,  like  Veronica,  I 
amused  myself,  and  passed  days  on  the  sea-shore,  or  in  the 
fields  and  woods,  mother  keeping  me  in  long  enough  to 
make  a  square  of  patchwork  each  day  and  to  hear  her  read 
a  Psalm — a  duty  which  I  bore  with  patience,  by  guessing 
when  the  "Selahs"  would  come  in,  and  counting  them. 
But  wherever  I  was,  or  whatever  I  did,  no  feeling  of  beauty 
ever  stole  into  my  mind.  I  never  turned  my  face  up  to  the 
sky  to  watch  the  passing  of  a  cloud,  or  mused  before  the 
undulating  space  of  sea,  or  looked  down  upon  the  earth 
with  the  curiosity  of  thought,  or  spiritual  aspiration.  I  was 
moved  and  governed  by  my  sensations,  which  continually 
changed,  and  passed  away — to  come  again,  and  deposit 
vague  ideas  which  ignorantly  haunted  me.  The  literal 
images  of  all  things  which  I  saw  were  impressed  on  my 
shapeless  mind,  to  be  reproduced  afterward  by  faculties 
then  latent.  But  what  satisfaction  was  that?  Doubtless 
the  ideal  faculty  was  active  in  Veronica  from  the  beginning  ; 
in  me  it  was  developed  by  the  experience  of  years.  No 
remembrance  of  any  ideal  condition  comes  with  the  remem- 


12  THE  MORGESONS. 

brance  of  my  childish  days,  and  I  conclude  that  my  mind, 
if  I  had  any,  existed  in  so  rudimental  a  state  that  it  had 
little  influence  upon  my  character. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

ONE  afternoon  in  the  following  July,  tired  of  walking  in 
the  mown  fields,  and  of  carrying  a  nest  of  mice,  which 
I  had  discovered  under  a  hay-rick,  I  concluded  I  would 
begin  a  system  of  education  with  them  ;  so  arranging  them 
on  a  grape-leaf,  I  started  homeward.  Going  in  by  the 
kitchen,  I  saw  Temperance  wiping  the  dust  from  the  best 
china,  which  elated  me,  for  it  was  a  sign  that  we  were  going 
to  have  company  to  tea. 

"  You  evil  child,"  she  said,  "  where  have  you  been  ?  Your 
mother  has  wanted  you  these  hours,  to  dress  you  in  your 
red  French  calico  with  wings  to  it.  Some  of  the  members 
are  coming  to  tea  ;  Miss  Seneth  Jellatt,  and  she  that  was 
Clarissa  Tripp,  Snow  now,  and  Miss  Sophrony  G.  Dexter, 
and  more  besides." 

I  put  my  mice  in  a  basket,  and  begged  Temperance  to 
allow  me  to  finish  wiping  the  china  ;  she  consented,  adjur 
ing  me  not  to  let  it  fall.  "  Mis  Morgeson  would  die  if  any 
of  it  should  be  broken."  I  adored  it,  too.  Each  piece 
had  a  peach,  or  pear,  or  a  bunch  of  cherries  painted  on  it, 
in  lustrous  brown.  The  handles  were  like  gold  cords,  and 
the  covers  had  knobs  of  gilt  grapes. 

"  What  preserves  are  you  going  to  put  on  the  table  ? "  I 
asked. 

"  Them  West  Ingy  things  Capen  Curtis's  son  brought 
home,  and  quartered  quince,  though  I  expect  Mis  Dexter 
will  remark  that  the  surup  is  ropy." 

"  I  wish  you  wouldn't  have  cheese." 

"  We  must  have  cheese,"  she  said  solemnly.  "  I  expect 
they'll  drink  our  green  tea  till  they  make  bladders  of  them 
selves,  it  is  so  good.  Your  father  is  a  first-rate  man  ;  he  is 
an  excellent  provider,  and  any  woman  ought  to  be  proud 
of  him,  for  he  does  buy  number  one  in  provisions." 

I  looked  at  her  with  admiration  and  respect. 

"  Capen   Curtis,"   she  continued,   pursuing  a  train   of 


THE  MORGESONS.  13 

thought  which  the  preserves  had  started,  "  will  never  come 
home,  I  guess.  He  has  been  in  furen  parts  forever  and  a 
day  ;  his  wife  has  looked  for  him,  a-twirling  her  thumb  and 
fingers,  every  day  for  ten  years.  I  heard  your  mother  had 
engaged  her  to  go  in  the  new  house ;  she'll  take  the  upper 
hand  of  us  all.  Your  grandfather.  Mr.  Johji_j>lorgeso_n.  is 
willing  to  part  with  her7:;  tired  of  her,  I  spose~ 1-Jhe  has 
been  housekeeping  there,  off  and  on,  these  thirty  years. 
She's  fifty,  if  she  is  a  day,  is  Hepsy  Curtis." 

"  Is  she  as  stingy  as  you  are  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  You'll  find  out  for  yourself,  Miss.  I  rather  think  you 
won't  be  allowed  to  crumble  over  the  buttery  shelves." 

I  finished  the  cup,  and  was  watching  her  while  she  grated 
loaf-sugar  over  a  pile  of  doughnuts,  when  mother  entered, 
and  begged  me  to  come  upstairs  with  her  to  be  dressed. 

"Where  is  Verry,  mother?" 

"In  the  parlor,  with  a  lemon  in  one  hand  and  Robinson 
Crusoe  in  the  other.  She  will  be  good,  she  says.  Gassy, 
you  won't  teaze  me  to-day,  will  you?" 

"  No,  indeed,  mother,"  and  clapping  my  hands,  "  I  like 
you  too  well." 

She  laughed. 

"  These  Morgesons  beat  the  dogs,"  I  heard  Temperance 
say,  as  we  shut  the  door  and  went  upstairs. 

I  skipped  over  the  shiny,  lead-colored  floor  of  the  chamber 
in  my  stockings,  while  mother  was  taking  from  the  bureau 
a  clean  suit  for  me,  and  singing  "Bonny  Doon,"  with  the 
sweetest  voice  in  the  world.  She  soon  arrayed  me  in  my 
red  calico  dress,  spotted  with  yellow  stars.  I  was  proud  of 
its  buckram  undersleeves,  though  they  scratched  my  arms, 
and  admired  its  wings,  which  extended  over  the  protecting 
buckram. 

"  It  is  three  o'clock  ;  the  company  will  come  soon.  Be 
careful  of  your  dress.  You  must  stand  by  me  at  the  table 
to  hand  the  cups  of  tea." 

She  left  me  standing  in  a  chair,  so  that  I  might  see  my 
pantalettes  in  the  high-hung  glass,  and  the  effect  of  my 
balloon-like  sleeves.  Then  I  went  back  to  the  kitchen 
to  show  myself  to  Temperance,  and  to  enjoy  the  progress 
of  tea. 

The  table  was  laid  in  the  long  keeping-room  adjoining 
the  kitchen,  covered  with  a  striped  cloth  of  crimson  and 


14  THE  MORGESONS. 

blue,  smooth  as  satin  to  the  touch.  Temperance  had  turned 
the  plates  upside-down  around  the  table,  and  placed  in  a 
straight  line  through  the  middle  a  row  of  edibles.  She  was 
going  to  have  waffles,  she  said,  and  shortcake ;  they  were 
all  ready  to  bake,  and  she  wished  to  the  Lord  they  would 
come  and  have  it  over  with.  With  the  silver  sugar-tongs  I 
slyly  nipped  lumps  of  sugar  for  my  private  eating,  and  sur 
veyed  my  features  in  the  distorting  mirror  of  the  pot-bellied 
silver  teapot,  ordinarily  laid  up  in  flannel.  When  the  com 
pany  had  arrived,  Temperance  advised  me  to  go  in  the 
parlor. 

"  Sit  down,  when  you  get  there,  and  show  less,"  she  said. 
I  went  in  softly,  and  stood  behind  mother's  chair,  slightly 
abashed  for  a  moment  in  the  presence  of  the  party — some 
eight  or  ten  ladies,  dressed  in  black  levantine,  or  cinna 
mon-colored  silks,  who  were  seated  in  rocking-chairs,  ail 
the  rocking-chairs  in  the  house  having  been  carried  to  the  ., 
parlor  for  the  occasion.  They  were  knitting,  and  every  * 
one  had  a  square  velvet  workbag.  Most  of  them  wore 
lace  caps,  trimmed  with  white  satin  ribbon.  They  were 
larger,  more  rotund,  and  older  than  mother,  whose  appear-  v 
ance  struck  me  by  contrast.  Perhaps  it  was  the  first  time 
I  observed  her  dress;  her  face  I  must  have  studied  before, 
for  I  knew  all  her  moods  by  it.  Her  long,  lusterless,  brown 
hair  was  twisted  around  a  high-topped  tortoise-shell  comb  ; 
it  was  so  heavy  and  so  carelessly  twisted  that  the  comb 
started  backward,  threatening  to  fall  out.  She  had  minute 
rings  of  filigreed  gold  in  her  ears.  Her  dress  was  a  gray 
pongee,  simply  made  and  short ;  I  could  see  her  round-toed 
morocco  shoes,  tied  with  black  ribbon.  She  usually  took 
out  her  shoestrings,  not  liking  the  trouble  of  tying  them. 
A  ruffle  of  fine  lace  fell  around  her  throat,  and  the  sleeves 
of  her  short-waisted  dress  were  puffed  at  the  shoulders. 
Her  small  white  hands  were  folded  in  her  lap,  for  she  was 
idle  ;  on  the  little  finger  of  her  left  hand  twinkled  a  bril 
liant  garnet  ring,  set  with  diamonds.  Her  face  was  color 
less,  the  forehead  extremely  low,  the  nose  and  mouth 
finely  cut,  the  eyes  of  heavenly  blue.  Although  youth  had 
gone,  she  was  beautiful,  with  an  indescribable  air  of  indi 
viduality.  She  influenced  all  who  were  near  her ;  her  at 
mosphere  enveloped  them.  She  was  not  aware  of  it,  being 
too  indifferent  to  the  world  to  observe  what  effect  she  had 


THE  MORGESONS.  1 5 

in  it,  and  only  realized  that  she  was  to  herself  a  self-tor 
mentor.  Whether  she  attracted  or  repelled,  the  power  was 
the  same.  I  make  no  attempt  to  analyze  her  character. 
I  describe  her  as  she  appeared,  and  as  my  memory  now 
holds  her.  I  never  understood  her,  and  for  that  reason  she 
attracted  my  attention.  I  felt  puzzled  now,  she  seemed  so 
different  from  anybody  else.  My  observation  was  next  . 
drawn  to  Veronica,  who,  entirely  at  home,  walked  up  and  * 
down  the  room  in  a  blue  cambric  dress.  She  was  twisting 
in  her  fingers  a  fine  gold  chain,  which  hung  from  her  neck. 
I  caught  her  cunning  glance  as  she  flourished  some  tansy 
leaves  before  her  face,  imitating  Mrs.  Dexter  to  the  life. 
I  laughed,  and  she  came  to  me. 

"  See,"  she  said  softly,  "  I  have  something  from  heaven." 
She  lifted  her  white  apron,  and  I  saw  under  it,  pinned  to 
her  dress,  a  splendid  black  butterfly,  spotted  with  red  and 
gold. 

"It  is  mine,"  she  said,  "you  shall  not  touch  it.  God 
blew  it  in  through  the  window  ;  but  it  has  not  breathed 
yet." 

"  Pooh  ;  I  have  three  mice  in  the  kitchen." 

"  Where  is  the  mother  ? " 

"  In  the  hayrick,  I  suppose,  I  left  it  there." 

"  I  hate  you,"  she  said,  in  an  enraged  voice.  "  I  would 
strike  you,  if  it  wasn't  for  this  holy  butterfly." 

"Cassandra,"  said  Mrs.  Dexter,  "does  look  like  her  pa  ; 
the  likeness  is  ex-tri-ordinary.  They  say  my  William  re 
sembles  me  ;  but  parients  are  no  judges." 

A  faint  murmur  rose  from  the  knitters,  which  signified 
agreement  with  her  remark. 

"I  do  think,"  she  continued,  "that  it  is  high  time  Dr. 
Snell  had  a  colleague  ;  he  has  outlived  his  usefulness.  I 
never  could  say  that  I  thought  he  was  the  right  kind  of  man 
for  our  congregation  ;  his  principalls  as  a  man  I  have  nothing 
to  say  against  ;  but  why  don't  we  have  revivals  ?" 

When  Mrs.  Dexter  wished  to  be  elegant  she  stepped  out 
of  the  vernacular.  She  was  about  to  speak  again  when  the 
whole  party  broke  into  a  loud  talk  on  the  subject  she  had 
started,  not  observing  Temperance,  who  appeared  at  the 
door,  and  beckoned  to  mother.  I  followed  her  out. 

"  The  members  are  goin'  it,  aint  they  ? "  she  said.  "  Do  see 
if  things  are  about  right,  Mis  Morgeson."  Mother  made  a 


1 6  THE  MORGESONS. 

few  deviations  from  the  straight  lines  in  which  Temperance 
had  ranged  the  viands,  and  told  her  to  put  the  tea  on  the 
tray,  and  the  chairs  round  the  table. 

"  There's  no  place  for  Mr.  Morgeson,"  observed  Tem 
perance. 

"  He  is  in  Milford,"  mother  replied. 

"  The  brethren  wont  come,  I  spose,  till  after  dark?" 

"  I  suppose  not." 

"  Glad  to  get  rid  of  their  wives'  clack,  I  guess." 

From  the  silence  which  followed  mother's  return  to  the 
parlor,  I  concluded  they  were  performing  the  ancient  cere 
mony  of  waiting  for  some  one  to  go  through  the  doorway 
first.  They  came  at  last  with  an  air  of  indifference,  as  if 
the  idea  of  eating  had  not  yet  occurred,  and  delayed  taking 
seats  till  mother  urged  it ;  then  they  drew  up  to  the  table, 
hastily,  turned  the  plates  right-side  up,  spread  large  silk 
handkerchiefs  over  their  laps,  and,  with  their  eyes  fixed  on 
space,  preserved  a  dead  silence,  which  was  only  broken  by 
mother's  inquiries  about  their  taste  in  milk  or  sugar.  Tem 
perance  came  in  with  plates  of  waffles  and  buttered  short 
cake,  which  she  offered  with  a  cut  and  thrust  air,  saying,  as 
she  did  so,  "  I  expect  you  can't  eat  them  ;  I  know  they  are 
tough." 

Everybody,  however,  accepted  both.  She  then  handed 
round  the  preserves,  and  went  out  to  bake  more  waffles. 

By  this  time  the  cups  had  circled  the  table,  but  no  one 
had  tasted  a  morsel. 

"  Do  help  yourselves,"  mother  entreated,  whereat  they 
fell  upon  the  waffles. 

"Temperance  is  as  good  a  cook  as  ever,"  said  one  ;  "she 
is  a  prize,  isn't  she,  Mis  Morgeson  ? " 

"  She  is  faithful  and  industrious,"  mother  replied. 

All  began  at  once  on  the  subject  of  help,  and  were  as  sud 
denly  quenched  by  the  reappearance  of  Temperance,  with 
fresh  waffles,  and  a  dish  of  apple-fritters. 

"  Do  eat  these  if  you  can,  ladies  ;  the  apples  are  only 
russets,  and  they  are  kinder  dead  for  flavoring.  I  see  you 
don't  eat  a  mite  ;  I  expected  you  could  not  ;  it's  poor  trash." 
And  she  passed  the  cake  along,  everybody  taking  a  piece 
of  each  kind. 

After  drinking  a  good  many  cups  of  tea,  and  praising  it, 
their  asceticism  gave  way  to  its  social  effect,  and  they  began 


THE  MORGESONS.  I? 

to  gossip,  ridiculing  their  neighbors,  and  occasionally  launch-  , 
ing  innuendoes  against  their  absent  lords.  It  is  well  known  ** 
that  when  women  meet  together  they  do  not  discuss  their 
rights,  but  take  them,  in  revealing  the  little  weaknesses 
and  peculiarities  of  their  husbands.  The  worst  wife-driver 
would  be  confounded  at  the  air  of  easy  superiority  assumed 
on  these  occasions  by  the  meekest  and  most  unsuspicious 
of  her  sex.  Insinuations  of  So  and  So's  not  being  any  bet 
ter  than  she  should  be  passed  from  mouth  to  mouth,  with  a 
glance  at  me  ;  and  I  heard  the  proverb  of  "  Little  pitchers," 
when  mother  rose  suddenly  from  the  table,  and  led  the  way 
to  the  parlor. 

"  Where  is  Veronica  ?  "  asked  Temperance,  who  was 
piling  the  debris  of  the  feast.  "  She  has  been  in  mischief, 
I'll  warrant ;  find  her,  Cassandra." 

She  was  upstairs  putting  away  her  butterfly,  in  the  leaves  of 
her  little  Bible.  She  came  down  with  me,  and  Temperance 
coaxed  her  to  eat  her  supper,  by  vowing  that  she  should  be 
sick  abed,  unless  she  liked  her  fritters  and  waffles.  I  thought 
of  my  mice,  while  making  a  desultory  meal  standing,  and 
went  to  look  at  them  ;  they  were  gone.  Wondering  if 
Temperance  had  thrown  the  creatures  away,  I  remembered 
that  I  had  been  foolish  enough  to  tell  Veronica,  and  rushed 
back  to  her.  When  she  saw  me,  she  raised  a  saucer  to  her 
face,  pretending  to  drink  from  it. 

'  Verry,  where  are  the  mice  ?  " 

'  Are  they  gone  ?  " 

'Tell  me." 

'  What  will  you  do  if  I  don't  ? " 

'  I  know,"  and  I  flew  upstairs,  tore  the  poor  butterfly 
from  between  the  leaves  of  the  Bible,  crushed  it  in  my  hand, 
and  brought  it  down  to  her.  She  did  not  cry  when  she  saw 
it,  but  choked  a  little,  and  turned  away  her  head. 

It  was  now  dark,  and  hearing  a  bustle  in  the  entry  I 
looked  out,  and  saw  several  staid  men  slowly  rubbing  their 
feet  on  the  door-mat ;  the  husbands  had  come  to  escort 
their  wives  home,  and  by  nine  o'clock  they  all  went.  Ve 
ronica  and  I  stayed  by  the  door  after  they  had  gone. 

"  Look  at  Mrs.  Dexter,"  she  said  ;  "  I  put  the  mice  in 
her  workbag." 

I  burst  into  a  laugh,  which  she  joined  in  presently. 

"  I  am  sorry  about  the  butterfly,  Verry."     And  I  at- 


J 


1 8  THE  MORGESONS. 

tempted  to  take  her  hand,  but  she  pushed  me  away,  and 
marched  off  whistling. 

A  few  days  after  this,  sitting  near  the  window  at  twilight, 
intent  upon  a  picture  in  a  book  of  travels,  of  a  Hindoo 
swinging  from  a  high  pole  with  hooks  in  his  flesh,  and  try 
ing  to  imagine  how  much  it  hurt  him,  my  attention  was  ar 
rested  by  a  mention  of  my  name  in  a  conversation  held 
between  mother  and  Mr.  Park,  one  of  the  neighbors.  He 
occasionally  spent  an  evening  at  our  house,  passing  it  in 
polemical  discussion,  revising  the  prayers  and  exhortations 
which  he  made  at  conference  meetings.  The  good  man 
was  a  little  vain  of  having  the  formulas  of  his  creed  at  his 
tongue's  end.  She  sometimes  lot  thse  thread  of  his  dis 
course,  but  argued  also  as  if  to  convince  herself  that  she 
could  rightly  distinguish  between  Truth  and  Illusion,  but 
never  discussed  religious  topics  with  father.  Like  all  the 
Morgesons,  he  was  Orthodox,  accepting  what  had  been  pro 
vided  by  others  for  his  spiritual  accommodation.  He 
thought  it  well  that  existing  Institutions  should  not  be  dis 
turbed.  "  Something  worse  might  be  established  instead." 
His  turn  of  mind,  in  short,  was  not  Evangelical. 

"Are  the  Hindoos  in  earnest,  mother?"  and  I  thrust  the 
picture  before  her.  She  warned  me  off. 

"  Do  you  think,  Mr.  Park,  that  Cassandra  can  understand 
the  law  of  transgression  ?  " 

An  acute  perception  that  it  was  in  my  power  to  escape  a 
moral  penalty,  by  willful  ignorance,  was  revealed  to  me,  that 
I  could  continue  the  privilege  of  sinning  with  impunity. 
His  answer  was  complicated,  and  he  quoted  several  pas 
sages  from  the  Scriptures.  Presently  he  began  to  sing,  and 
I  grew  lonesome  ;  the  life  within  me  seemed  a  black  cave. 

"  Our  nature's  totally  depraved — 

The  heart  a  sink  of  sin  ; 
Without  a  change  we  can't  be  saved, 
Ye  must  be  born  again." 

Temperance  opened  the  door.  "Is  Veronica  going  to 
bed  to-night  ? "  she  asked. 


THE  MORGESONS.  19 


CHAPTER  V. 

HHHE  next  September  we  moved.  Our  new  house  was 
large  and  handsome.  On  the  south  side  there  was 
nothing  between  it  and  the  sea,  except  a  few  feet  of 
sand.  No  tree  or  shrub  intercepted  the  view.  To  the 
eastward  a  promontory  of  rocks  jutted  into  the  sea,  serving 
as  a  pier  against  the  wash  of  the  tide,  and  adding  a  pictur- 
esqueness  to  the  curve  of  the  beach.  On  the  north  side 
flourished  an  orchard,  which  was  planted  by  Grandfather 
Locke.  Looking  over  the  tree-tops  from  the  upper  north 
windows,  one  would  have  had  no  suspicion  of  being  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  sea.  From  these  windows,  in  winter, 
we  saw  the  nimbus  of  the  Northern  Light.  The  darkness  of 
our  sky,  the  stillness  of  the  night,  mysteriously  reflected  the 
perpetual  condition  of  its  own  solitary  world.  In  summer 
ragged  white  clouds  rose  above  the  horizon,  as  if  they  had 
been  torn  from  the  sky  of  an  underworld,  to  sail  up  the  blue 
heaven,  languish  away,  or  turn  livid  with  thunder,  and  roll 
off  seaward.  Between  the  orchard  and  the  house  a  lawn 
sloped  easterly  to  the  border  of  a  brook,  which  straggled 
behind  the  outhouses  into  a  meadow,  and  finally  lost  itself 
among  the  rocks  on  the  shore.  Up  by  the  lawn  a  willow 
hung  over  it,  and  its  outer  bank  was  fringed  by  the  tangled 
wild-grape,  sweet-briar,  and  alder  bushes.  The  premises, 
except  on  the  seaside,  were  enclosed  by  a  high  wall  of 
rough  granite.  No  houses  were  near  us,  on  either  side  of 
the  shore  ;  up  the  north  road  they  were  scattered  at  in 
tervals. 

Mothersaid  I  must  be  considered  a  young  lady,  and  should 
have  my  own  room.  Veronica  was  to  have  one  opposite, 
divided  from  it  by  a  wide  passage.  This  passage  extended 
beyond  the  angle  of  the  stairway,  and  was  cut  off  by  a 
glass  door.  A  wall  ran  across  the  lower  end  of  the  pas 
sage  ;  half  the  house  was  beyond  its  other  side,  so  that 
when  the  door  was  fastened,  Veronica  and  myself  were  in 
a  cul-de-sac. 

The  establishment  was  put  on  a  larger  footing.  Mrs. 
Hepsey  Curtis  was  installed  mistress  of  the  kitchen.  Tem 
perance  declared  that  she  could  not  stand  it  ;  that  she 
wasn't  a  nigger ;  that  she  must  go,  but  she  had  no  home, 


20  THE  MORGESONS. 

and  no  friends — nothing  but  a  wood  lot,  which  was  left  her 
by  her  father  the  miller.  As  the  trees  thereon  grew, 
promising  to  make  timber,  its  value  increased  ;  at  present 
her  income  was  limited  to  the  profit  from  the  annual  sale 
of  a  cord  or  two  of  wood.  So  she  staid  on,  in  spite  of  Hep- 
sey.  There  were  also  two  men  for  the  garden  and  stable. 
A  boy  was  always  attached  to  the  house  ;  not  the  same  boy, 
but  a  Boy  dynasty,  for  as  soon  as  one  went  another  came, 
who  ate  a  great  deal — a  crime  in  Hepsey's  eyes — and  whose 
general  duty  was  to  carry  armfuls  of  wood,  pails  of  milk, 
or  swill,  and  to  shut  doors. 

We  had  many  visitors.  Though  father  had  no  time  to 
devote  to  guests,  he  was  continually  inviting  people  for  us  to 
entertain,  and  his  invitations  were  taken  as  a  matter  of  course, 
and  finally  for  granted.  A  rich  Morgeson  was  a  new  fea 
ture  in  the  family  annals,  and  distant  relations  improved  the 
advantage  offered  them  by  coming  to  spend  the  summer 
with  us,  because  their  own  houses  were  too  hot,  or  the 
winter,  because  they  were  too  cold  !  Infirm  old  ladies,  who 
were  not  related  to  us,  but  who  had  nowhere  else  to  visit, 
came.  As  his  business  extended,  our  visiting  list  extended. 
The  captains  of  his  ships  whose  homes  were  elsewhere 
brought  their  wives  to  be  inconsolable  with  us  after  their 
departure  on  their  voyages.  We  had  ministers  often,  who 
always  quarter  at  the  best  houses,  and  chance  visitors  to 
dinner  and  supper,  who  made  our  house  a  way-station. 
There  was  but  small  opportunity  to  cultivate  family  affinities  ; 
they  were  forever  disturbed.  Somebody  was  always  sitting 
in  the  laps  of  our  Lares  and  Penates.  Another  class  of 
visitors  deserving  notice  were  those  who  preferred  to  oc 
cupy  the  kitchen  and  back  chambers,  humbly  proud  and 
bashfully  arrogant  people,  who  kept  their  hats  and  bonnets 
by  them,  and  small  bundles,  to  delude  themselves  and  us 
with  the  idea  that  they  "  had  not  come  to  stay,  and  had  no 
occasion  for  any  attention."  These  people  criticised  us 
with  insinuating  severity,  and  proposed  amendments  with 
unrelenting  affability.  To  this  class  Veronica  was  most 
attracted — it  repelled  me  ;  consequently  she  was  petted, 
and  I  was  amiably  sneered  at. 

This  period  of  our  family  life  has  left  small  impression  of 
dramatic  interest.  There  was  no  development  of  the  senti 
ments,  no  betrayal  of  the  fluctuations  of  the  passions  which 


THE  MORGESONS.  21 

must  have  existed.  There  was  no  accident  to  reveal,  no 
coincidence  to  surprise  us.  Hidden  among  the  Powers 
That  Be,  which  rule  New  England,  lurks  the  Deity  of  the 
Illicit.  This  Deity  never  obtained  sovereignty  in  the  at 
mosphere  where  the  Morgesons  lived.  Instead  of  the  im 
pression  which  my  after-experience  suggests  to  me  to  seek, 
I  recall  arrivals  and  departures,  an  eternal  smell  of  cookery, 
a  perpetual  changing  of  beds,  and  the  small  talk  of  vacant 
minds. 

Despite  the  rigors  of  Hepsey  in  the  kitchen,  and  the  care 
ful  supervision  of  Temperance,  there  was  little  systematic 
housekeeping.  Mother  had  severe  turns  of  planning,  and 
making  rules,  falling  upon  us  in  whirlwinds  of  reform,  shortly 
allowing  the  band  of  habit  to  snap  back,  and  we  resumed 
our  former  condition.  She  had  no  assistance  from  father 
in  her  ideas  of  change.  It  was  enough  for  him  to  know 
that  he  had  built  a  good  house  to  shelter  us,  and  to  order 
the  best  that  could  be  bought  for  us  to  eat  and  to  wear. 
He  liked,  when  he  went  where  there  were  fine  shops,  to 
buy  and  bring  home  handsome  shawls,  bonnets,  and  dresses, 
wholly  unsuited  in  general  to  the  style  and  taste  of  each  of 
us,  but  much  handsomer  than  were  needful  for  Surrey. 
They  answered,  however,  as  patterns  for  the  plainer  ma 
terials  of  our  neighbors.  He  also  bought  books  for  us, 
recommended  by  their  covers,  or  the  opinion  of  the  book 
seller.  His  failing  was  to  buy  an  immense  quantity  of 
everything  he  fancied. 

l<  I  shall  never  have  to  buy  this  thing  again,"  he  would 
say ;  "  let  us  have  enough." 

Veronica  and  I  grew  up  ignorant  of  practical  or  econom 
ical  ways.  We  never  saw  money,  never  went  shopping. 
Mother  was  indifferent  in  regard  to  much  of  the  business  of 
ordinary  life  which  children  are  taught  to  understand. 
Father  and  mother  both  stopped  at  the  same  point  with  us, 
but  for  a  different  reason  ;  father,  because  he  saw  nothing 
beyond  the  material,  and  mother,  because  her  spiritual  in 
sight  was  confused  and  perplexing.  But  whatever  a  house 
hold-  may  be,  the  Destinies  spin  the  web  to  their  will, 
out  of  the  threads  which  drop  hither  and  thither,  floating  in 
its  atmosphere,  white,  black,  or  gray. 

From  the  time  we  moved,  however,  we  were  a  stirring, 
cheerful  family,  independent  of  each  other,  but  spite  of 


22  THE  MORGESONS. 

our  desultory  tastes,  mutual  habits  were  formed.  When 
the  want  of  society  was  felt,  we  sought  the  dining-room, 
sure  of  meeting  others  with  the  same  want.  This  room  was 
large  and  central,  connecting  with  the  halls,  kitchen,  and 
mother's  room.  It  was  a  caravansary  where  people  dropped 
in  and  out  on  their  way  to  some  other  place.  Our  most 
public  moments  were  during  meal-time.  It  was  known 
that  father  was  at  home  at  breakfast  and  supper,  and  could 
be  consulted.  As  he  was  away  at  our  noonday  dinner, 
generally  we  were  the  least  disturbed  then,  and  it  was  a 
lawless,  irregular,  and  unceremonious  affair.  Mother  estab- 
lisher  her  arm-chair  here,  and  a  stand  for  her  workbasket. 
Hepsey  and  Temperance  were  at  hand,  the  men  came  for 
orders,  and  it  was  convenient  for  the  boy  to  transmit  the 
local  intelligence  it  was  his  vocation  to  collect.  The 
windows  commanded  a  view  of  the  sea,  the  best  in  the 
house.  This  prospect  served  mother  for  exercise.  Her 
eyes  roved  over  it  when  she  wanted  a  little  out-of-doors 
life.  If  she  desired  more  variety,  which  was  seldom,  she 
went  to  the  kitchen.  After  we  moved  she  grew  averse  to 
leaving  the  house,  except  to  go  to  church.  She  never 
quitted  the  dining-room  after  our  supper  till  bedtime,  be 
cause  father  rarely  came  from  Milford,  where  he  went  on 
bank  days,  and  indeed  almost  every  other  day,  till  late,  and 
she  liked  to  be  by  him  while  he  ate  his  supper  and  smoked 
a  cigar.  All  except  Veronica  frequented  this  room  ;  but 
she  was  not  missed  or  inquired  for.  She  liked  the  parlor, 
because  the  piano  was  there.  As  soon  as  father  had  bought 
it  she  astonished  us  by  a  persistent  fingering  of  the  keys, 
which  produced  a  feeble  melody.  She  soon  played  all  the 
airs  she  had  heard.  When  I  saw  what  she  could  do,  I  re 
fused  to  take  music  lessons,  for  while  I  was  trying  to  learn 
"The  White  Cockade,"  she  pushed  me  away,  played  it,  and 
made  variations  upon  it.  I  pounded  the  keys  with  my  fist, 
by  way  of  a  farewell,  and  told  her  she  should  have  the 
piano  for  her  own. 


THE  MORGESONS.  33 


CHAPTER  VI. 

ONE  winter  morning  before  daylight,  Veronica  came  to 
my  room,  and  asked  me  if  I  had  heard  any  walking 
about  the  house  during  the  night.  She  had,  and  was 
going  to  inquire  about  it.  She  soon  returned  with,  "You 
have  a  brother.  Temperance  says  my  nose  is  broken.  He 
will  be  like  you,  I  suppose,  and  have  everything  he  asks 
for.  I  don't  care  for  him  ;  but,"  crying  out  with  passion, 
"get  up.  Mother  wants  to  see_y##,  I  know." 

I  dressed  quickly,  and  went  downstairs  with  a  feeling  of 
indignation  that  such  an  event  should  have  happened  with 
out  my  knowledge. 

There  was  an  unwonted  hush.  A  bright  fire  was  burn 
ing  on  the  dining-room  hearth,  the  lamps  were  still  lighted, 
and  father  was  by  the  fire,  smoking  in  a  meditative  manner. 
He  put  out  his  hand,  which  I  did  not  take,  and  said,  "Do 
you  like  his  name — Arthur?" 

"  Yes,"  I  mumbled,  as  I  passed  him,  and  went  to  the 
kitchen,  where  Hepsey  and  Temperance  were  superintend 
ing  the  steeping  of  certain  aromatic  herbs,  which  stood 
round  the  fire  in  silver  porringers  and  earthern  pitchers. 

"Another  Morgeson's  come,"  said  Temperance.  "  There's 
enough  of  them,  such  as  they  are — not  but  what  they  are 
good  enough,"  correcting  herself  hastily. 

"  Go  into  your  mother's  room,  softly,"  said  Hepsey,  rub 
bing  her  fingers  against  her  thumb — her  habit  when  she  was 
in  a  tranquil  frame  of  mind. 

"  You  are  mighty  glad,  Hepsey,"  said  Temperance. 

"  Locke  Morgeson  ought  to  have  a  son,"  she  replied,  "  to 
leave  his  money  to." 

"I  vow,"  answered  Temperance,  "  girls  are  thought  noth 
ing  of  in  this  'ligous  section  ;  they  may  go  to  the  poor 
house,  as  long  as  the  sons  have  plenty." 

An  uncommon  fit  or  shyness  seized  me,  mixed  with  a 
feeling  of  dread,  as  I  crept  into  the  room  where  mother  was. 
My  eyes  first  fell  upon  an  elderly  woman,  who  wore  a  long, 
wide,  black  apron,  whose  strings  girded  the  middle  of  her 
cushion-like  form.  She  was  taking  snuff.  It  was  the 
widow  Mehitable  Allen,  a  lady  whom  I  had  often  seen  in 
other  houses  on  similar  occasions. 


24  THE  MORGESONS. 

"  Shoo,"  she  whispered  nasally. 

I  was  arrested,  but  turned  my  eyes  toward  mother ;  hers 
were  closed.  Presently  she  murmured,  "Thank  God," 
opened  them,  and  saw  me.  A  smile  lighted  her  pale  coun 
tenance.  "  Gassy,  my  darling,  kiss  me.  I  am  glad  it  is  not 
a  woman."  As  I  returned  her  kiss  her  glance  dropped  on 
a  small  bunch  by  her  side,  which  Mehitable  took  and  deftly 
unrolled,  informing  me  as  she  did  so  that  it  was  a 
"  Rouser." 

Aunt  Mercy  came  the  next  day.  She  had  not  paid  us  a 
visit  in  a  long  time,  being  confined  at  home  with  the  care  of 
her  father,  Grandfather  Warren.  She  took  charge  of  Ve 
ronica  and  me,  if  taking  charge  means  a  series  of  guerilla 
skirmishes  on  both  sides.  I  soon  discovered,  however, 
that  she  was  prone  to  laughter,  and  that  I  could  provoke 
it ;  we  got  on  better  after  that  discovery  ;  but  Veronica,  dis 
daining  artifice,  was  very  cross  with  her.  Aunt  Mercy  had 
a  spark  of  fun  in  her  composition,  which  was  not  quite 
crushed  out  by  her  religious  education.  She  frequented 
the  church  oftener  than  mother,  sang  more  hymns,  attend 
ed  all  the  anniversary  celebrations,  but  she  had  no  dreams, 
no  enthusiasm.  Her  religion  had  leveled  all  needs  and  all 
aspirations.  What  the  day  brought  forth  answered  her. 
She  inspired  me  with  a  secret  pity  ;  for  I  knew  she  carried 
in  her  bosom  the  knowledge  that  she  was  an  old  maid. 

Before  mother  left  her  room  Veronica  was  taken  ill,  and 
was  not  convalescent  till  spring.  Delicacy  of  constitution 
the  doctor  called  her  disorder.  She  had  no  strength,  no 
appetite,  and  looked  more  elfish  than  ever.  She  would  not 
stay  in  bed,  and  could  not  sit  up,  so  father  had  a  chair  made 
for  her,  in  which  she  could  recline  comfortably.  Aunt 
Merce  put  her  in  it  every  morning,  and  took  her  out  every 
evening.  My  presence  irritated  her,  so  I  visited  her  but 
seldom.  She  said  I  looked  so.  well,  it  hurt  her,  and  wished 
me  to  keep  out  of  her  sight,  begged  me  never  to  talk  loud 
in  the  vicinity  of  her  room,  my  voice  was  so  breezy.  She 
amused  herself  in  her  own  strange  way.  One  of  her  amuse 
ments  was  to  cut  off  her  hair,  lock  by  lock,  and  cut  it  short 
before  she  was  well  enough  to  walk  about.  She  played  on 
a  jewsharp,  and  on  a  little  fife  when  her  breath  permitted, 
and  invented  grotesque  costumes  out  of  bits  of  silk  and 
lace.  Temperance  was  much  engaged,  at  her  dictation,  in 


THE  MORGESONS.  *5 

the  composition  of  elaborate  dishes,  which  she  rarely  ate, 
but  forced  Temperance  to.  She  was  more  patient  with  her 
than  any  other  person  ;  with  us  she  was  excessively  high- 
tempered,  especially  with  father.  She  could  not  bear  to 
catch  a  glimpse  of  the  sea,  nor  to  hear  it ;  if  she  heard  it 
echoing  in  the  house,  she  played  on  her  fife,  or  jewsharp, 
or  asked  Aunt  Merce  to  sing  some  old  song.  But  she 
liked  the  view  from  the  north  windows,  even  when  the 
boughs  were  bare  and  the  fields  barren.  When  the  grass 
came,  she  ordered  handfuls  to  be  brought  her  and  put  in 
saucers  of  water.  With  the  coming  of  the  blossoms  she 
began  to  mend.  As  for  me,  I  was  as  much  an  animal  as 
ever — robust  in  health — inattentive,  and  seeking  excitement 
and  exhilaration.  I  went  everywhere,  to  Bible  class,  to  Sun 
day  school,  and  to  every  funeral  which  took  place  within 
our  precincts.  But  I  never  looked  upon  the  dead  ;  per 
haps  that  sight  would  have  marred  the  slumbrous  security 
which  possessed  me — the  instinctive  faith  in  the  durability 
of  my  own  powers  of  life. 

But  a  change  was  approaching.  Aunt  Merce  considered 
my  present  state  a  hopeless  one.  She  was  outside  the  orbit 
of  the  family  planet,  and  saw  the  tendency  of  its  revolutions, 
perceiving  that  father  and  mother  were  absorbed  in  their 
individual  affairs.  She  called  mother's  attention  to  my  non- 
improvement,  and  proposed  that  I  should  return  to  Bar- 
mouth  with  her  for  a  year,  and  become  a  pupil  in  a  young 
lady's  school,  which  had  been  recently  established  there, 
by  a  graduate  of  the  Nipswich  Female  Seminary,  a  school 
distinguished  for  its  ethics.  Mother  looked  astonished, 
when  she  heard  this  proposal.  "  What  !  "  she  began  with 
vehemence,  "  shall  I  subject  " — but  checked  herself  when 
she  caught  my  eye,  and  continued  more  calmly  :  "  We  will 
decide  soon." 

It  was  decided  that  I  should  go,  without  my  being  con 
sulted  in  the  matter.  I  felt  resentful  against  mother,  and 
could  not  understand  till  afterward,  why  she  had  consented 
to  the  plan.  It  was  because  she  wished  me  to  comprehend 
the  influences  of  her  early  life,  and  learn  some  of  the  les 
sons  she  had  been  taught.  At  first,  father  "  poohed  "  at  the 
plan,  but  finally  said  it  was  a  good  place  to  tame  me. 
When  Veronica  heard  that  I  was  going,  she  told  me  that  I 
would  be  stifled,  if  I  lived  at  Grandfather  Warren's  ;  but 


26  THE  MORGESONS. 

added  that  the  plums  in  his  garden  were  good,  and  ad 
vised  me  to  sit  on  the  yellow  stone  doorstep,  under  which 
the  toads  lived.  She  also  informed  me  that  she  was  glad 
of  it,  and  hoped  I  would  stay  forever. 

To  Barmouth  I  went,  and  in  May  entered  Miss  Black's 
genteel  school.  Miss  Black  had  a  conviction  that  her  vo 
cation  was  teaching.  Necessity  did  not  compel  it,  for  she 
was  connected  with  one  of  the  richest  families  in  Barmouth. 
At  the  end  of  the  week  my  curiosity  regarding  my  new  po 
sition  was  quenched,  and  I  dropped  into  the  depths  of  my 
first  wretchedness.  I  frantically  demanded  of  father,  who 
had  stopped  to  see  me  on  his  way  to  Milford,  to  be  taken 
home.  He  firmly  resisted  me.  Once  a  month,  I  should  go 
home  and  spend  a  Sunday,  if  I  chose,  and  he  would  come 
to  Barmouth  every  week. 

My  agitation  and  despair  clouded  his  face  for  a  moment, 
then  it  cleared,  and  pinching  my  chin,  he  said,  "  Why  don't 
you  look  like  your  mother  ? " 

"  But  she  is  like  her  mother,"  said  Aunt  Merce. 

"  Well,  Gassy,  good-by  " ;  and  he  gave  me  a  kiss  with 
cruel  nonchalance.  I  knew  my  year  must  be  stayed  out. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

MY  life  at  Grandfather  Warren's  was  one  kind  of  penance 
and  my  life  in  Miss  Black's  school  another.     Both  dif 
fered  from  our  home-life.      My  filaments  found  no 
nourishment,  creeping  between  the  two  ;  but  the  fibers  of 
youth  are  strong,  and  they  do  not  perish.      Grandfather 
Warren's  house  reminded  me  of  the  casket  which   impris 
oned  the  Genii.     I  had  let  loose  a  Presence  I  had  no  power 
over — the  embodiment  of  its  gloom,  its  sternness,  and  its 
silence. 

With  feeling  comes  observation  ;  after  that,  one  reasons. 
I  began  to  observe.  Aunt  Mercy  was  not  the  Aunt  Merce  I 
had  known  at  home.  She  wore  a  mask  before  her  father. 
There  was  constraint  between  them  ;  each  repressed  the 
other.  The  result  of  this  relation  was  a  formal,  petrifying, 
unyielding  system, — a  system  which,  from  the  fact  of  its 
satisfying  neither,  was  kept  up  the  more  rigidly  ;  on  the  one 


THE  MORGESONS.  27 

side  from  a  morbid  conscience,  which  reiterated  its  moni 
tions  against  the  dictates  of  the  natural  heart  ;  on  the  other, 
out  of  respect  and  timidity. 

Grandfather  Warren  was  a  little,  lean,  leather-colored  man. 
His  head  was  habitually  bent,  his  eyes  cast  down  ;  but 
when  he  raised  them  to  peer  about,  their  sharpness  and  clear 
intelligence  gave  his  face  a  wonderful  vitality.  He  chafed 
his  small,  well-shaped  hands  continually  ;  his  long  polished 
nails  clicked  together  with  a  shelly  noise,  like  that  which 
beetles  make  flying  against  the  ceiling.  His  features  were 
delicate  and  handsome  ;  gentle  blood  ran  in  his  veins,  as  I 
have  said.  All  classes  in  Barmouth  treated  him  with  invari 
able  courtesy.  He  was  aboriginal  in  character,  not  to  be 
moved  by  antecedent  or  changed  by  innovation — a  Puritan, 
without  gentleness  or  tenderness.  He  scarcely  concealed 
his  contempt  for  the  emollients  of  life,  or  for  those  who 
needed  them.  He  whined  over  no  misfortune,  pined  for  no 
pleasure.  His  two  sons,  who  broke  loose  from  him,  went 
into  the  world,  lived  a  wild,  merry  life,  and  died  there,  he 
never  named.  He  found  his  wife  dead  by  his  side  one 
morning.  He  did  not  go  frantic,  but  selected  a  text  for  the 
funeral  sermon  ;  and  when  he  stood  by  the  uncovered  grave, 
took  off  his  hat  and  thanked  his  friends  for  their  kindness 
with  a  loud,  steady  voice.  Aunt  Mercy  told  me  that  after 
her  mother's  death  his  habit  of  charing  his  hands  com 
menced  ;  it  was  all  the  difference  she  saw  in  him,  for  he 
never  spoke  of  his  trouble  or  acknowledged  his  grief  by 
sign  or  word. 

Though  he  had  been  frugal  and  industrious  all  his  life,  he 
had  no  more  property  than  the  old,  rambling  house  we  lived 
in,  and  a  long,  narrow  garden  attached  to  it,  where  there 
were  a  few  plum  and  quince  trees,  a  row  of  currant  bushes, 
Aunt  Mercy's  beds  of  chamomile  and  sage,  and  a  few  flow 
ers.  At  the  end  of  the  garden  was  a  peaked-roof  pigsty  ; 
it  was  cleanly  kept,  and  its  inhabitant  had  his  meals  served 
with  the  regularity  which  characterized  all  that  Grandfather 
Warren  did.  Beautiful  pigeons  lived  in  the  roof,  and  were 
on  friendly  terms  with  the  occupant  on  the  lower  floor. 
The  house  was  not  unpicturesque.  It  was  built  on  a  corner, 
facing  two  streets.  One  front  was  a  story  high,  with  a 
slanting  roof  ;  the  other,  which  was  two-storied,  sloped  like 
a  giraffe's  back,  down  to  a  wood-shed.  Clean  cobwebs  hung 


28  THE  MORGESONS. 

from  its  rafters,  and  neat  heaps  of  fragrant  chips  were 
piled  on  the  floor. 

The  house  had  many  rooms,  all  more  or  less  dark  and  ir 
regularly  shaped.  The  construction  of  the  chambers  was 
so  involved,  I  could  not  get  out  of  one  without  going  into 
another.  Some  of  the  ceilings  slanted  suddenly,  and  some 
so  gradually  that  where  I  could  stand  erect,  and  where  I 
must  stoop,  I  never  remembered,  until  my  head  was  unpleas 
antly  grazed,  or  my  eyes  filled  with  flakes  of  ancient  lime- 
dust.  A  long  chamber  in  the  middle  of  the  house  was  the 
shop,  always  smelling  of  woolen  shreds.  At  sunset,  sum 
mer  or  winter,  Aunt  Mercy  sprinkled  water  on  the  unpainted 
floor,  and  swept  it.  While  she  swept  I  made  my  thumb 
sore,  by  snipping  the  bits  of  cloth  that  were  scattered  on  the 
long  counter  by  the  window  with  Grand'ther's  shears,  or 
I  scrawled  figures  with  gray  chalk,  where  I  thought  they 
might  catch  his  eye.  When  she  had  finished  sweeping  she 
carefully  sorted  the  scraps,  and  put  them  into  boxes  under 
the  counter  ;  then  she  neatly  rolled  up  the  brown-paper  cur 
tains,  which  had  been  let  down  to  exclude  the  afternoon 
sun  ;  shook  the  old  patchwork  cushions  in  the  osier-bot 
tomed  chairs  ;  watered  the  rose-geranium  and  the  monthly 
rose,  which  flourished  wonderfully  in  that  fluffy  atmosphere  ; 
set  every  pin  and  needle  in  its  place,  and  shut  the  door, 
which  was  opened  again  at  sunrise.  Of  late  years,  Grand' 
ther's  occupation  had  declined.  No  new  customers  came. 
A  few,  who  did  not  change  the  fashion  of  their  garb,  still 
patronized  him.  His  income  was  barely  three  hundred  dol 
lars  a  year — eked  out  to  this  amount  by  some  small  pay  for 
offices  connected  with  the  church,  of  which  he  was  a  promi 
nent  member.  From  this  income  he  paid  his  pulpit  tithe, 
gave  to  the  poor,  and  lived  independent  and  respectable. 
Mother  endeavored  in  an  unobtrusive  way  to  add  to  his 
comfort ;  but  he  would  only  accept  a  few  herrings  from  the 
Surrey  Weir  every  spring,  and  a  basket  of  apples  every  fall. 
He  invariably  returned  her  presents  by  giving  her  a  share 
of  his  plums  and  quinces. 

I  had  only  seen  Grand'ther  Warren  at  odd  intervals. 
He  rarely  came  to  our  house  ;  when  he  did,  he  rode  down 
on  the  top  of  the  Barmouth  stagecoach,  returning  in  a  few 
hours.  As  mother  never  liked  to  go  to  Barmouth,  she  sel 
dom  came  to  see  me. 


THE   MORGESONS,  29 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

IT  was  five  o'clock  on  Saturday  afternoon  when  father  left 
me.  Aunt  Mercy  continued  her  preparations  for  tea,  and 
when  it  was  ready,  went  to  the  foot  of  the  stairs,  and 
called,  "  Supper."  Grand'ther  came  down  immediately 
followed  by  two  tall,  cadaverous  women,  Ruth  and  Sally 
Aikin,  tailoresses,  who  sewed  for  him  spring  and  fall. 
Living  several  miles  from  Barmouth,  they  stayed  through 
the  week,  going  home  on  Saturday  night,  to  return 
on  Monday  morning.  We  stood  behind  the  heavy  oak 
chairs  round  the  table,  one  of  which  Grand'ther  tipped 
backward,  and  said  a  long  grace,  not  a  word  of  which  was 
heard  ;  for  his  teeth  were  gone,  and  he  prayed  in  his  throat. 
Aunt  Mercy's  "  Moltee  "  rubbed  against  me,  with  her  back 
and  tail  erect.  I  pinched  the  latter,  and  she  gave  a  wail. 
Aunt  Mercy  passed  her  hand  across  her  mouth,  but  the 
eyes  of  the  two  women  were  stony  in  their  sockets.  Grand 
'ther  ended  his  grace  with  an  upward  jerk  of  his  head  as 
we  seated  ourselves.  He  looked  sharply  at  me,  his  gray 
eyebrows  rising  hair  by  hair,  and  shaking  a  spoon  at  me 
said,  "  You  are  playing  over  your  mother's  capers." 

"  The  caper-bush  grows  on  the  shores  of  the  Mediterra 
nean  sea,  Grand'ther.  Miss  Black  had  it  for  a  theme,  out 
of  the  Penny  Magazine ;  it  is  full  of  themes." 
"  She  had  better  give  you  a  gospel  theme." 
He  was  as  inarticulate  when  he  quoted  Scripture  as  when 
he  prayed,  but  I  heard  something  about  "  thorns";  then  he 
helped  us  to  baked  Indian  pudding — our  invariable  Saturday 
night's  repast.  Aunt  Mercy  passed  cups  of  tea  ;  I  heard 
the  gulping  swallow  of  it  in  every  throat,  the  silence  was  so 
profound.  After  the  pudding  we  had  dried  apple-pie,  which 
we  ate  from  our  hands,  like  bread.  Grand'ther  ate  fast,  not 
troubling  himself  to  ask  us  if  we  would  have  more,  but 
making  the  necessary  motions  to  that  effect  by  touching 
the  spoon  in  the  pudding  or  knife  on  the  pie.  Ruth  and 
Sally  still  kept  their  eyes  fixed  on  some  invisible  object  at 
a  distance.  What  a  disagreeable  interest  I  felt  in  them  ! 
What  had  they  in  common  with  me  ?  What  could  they 
enjoy?  How  unpleasant  their  dingy,  crumbled,  needle- 
pricked  fingers  were  !  Sally  hiccoughed,  and  Ruth  suf- 


3°  THE  MORGESONS. 

fered  from  internal  rumblings.  Without  waiting  for  each 
other  when  we  had  finished,  we  put  our  chairs  against  the 
wall  and  left  the  room.  I  rushed  into  the  garden  and 
trampled  the  chamomile  bed.  I  had  heard  that  it  grew 
faster  for  being  subjected  to  that  process,  and  thought 
of  the  two  women  I  had  just  seen  while  I  crushed  the 
spongy  plants.  Had  they  been  trampled  upon?  A  feeling 
of  pity  stung  me  ;  I  ran  into  the  house,  and  found  them 
on  the  point  of  departure,  with  little  bundles  in  their 
hands. 

"  Aunt  Mercy  will  let  me  carry  your  bundles  a  part  of 
the  way  for  you  ;  shall  I  ?" 

"  No,  indeed,"  said  Ruth,  in  a  mild  voice  ;  "  there's  no 
heft  in  them  ;  they  are  mites  to  carry." 

"  Besides,"  chimed  Sally,  "you  couldn't  be  trusted  with 
them." 

"  Are  they  worth  anything  ?  "  I  inquired,  noticing  then 
that  both  wore  better  dresses,  and  that  the  bundles  con 
tained  their  shop-gowns. 

"  What  made  you  pinch  the  moltee's  tail  ?  "  asked  Sally. 
"  If  you  pinched  my  cat's  tail,  I  would  give  you  a  sound 
whipping." 

"  How  could  she,  Sally,"  said  Ruth,  "  when  our  cat's  tail 
is  cut  short  off  ?  " 

"  For  all  the  world,"  remarked  Sally,  "  that's  the  only 
way  she  can  be  managed.  If  things  are  cut  off,  and  kept 
out  of  sight,  or  never  mentioned  before  her,  she  may  behave 
very  well  ;  not  otherwise." 

"  Good-by,  Miss  Ruth,  and  Sally,  good-by,"  modulating 
my  voice  to  accents  of  grief,  and  making  a  "  cheese." 

They  retreated  with  a  less  staid  pace  than  usual,  and  I 
sought  Aunt  Mercy,  who  was  preparing  the  Sunday's  din 
ner.  Twilight  drew  near,  and  the  Sunday's  clouds  began 
to  fall  on  my  spirits.  Between  sundown  and  nine  o'clock 
was  a  tedious  interval.  I  was  not  allowed  to  go  to  bed,  nor 
to  read  a  secular  book,  or  to  amuse  myself  with  anything. 
A  dim  oil-lamp  burned  on  the  high  shelf  of  the  middle 
room,  our  ordinary  gathering-place.  Aunt  Mercy  sat  there, 
rocking  in  a  low  chair  ;  the  doors  were  open,  and  I  wan 
dered  softly  about.  The  smell  of  the  garden  herbs  came  in 
faintly,  and  now  and  then  I  heard  a  noise  in  the  water-butt 
under  the  spout,  the  snapping  of  an  old  rafter,  or  something 


THE  MORGESONS.  Jl 

falling  behind  the  wall.  The  toads  crawled  from  under  the 
plantain  leaves,  and  hopped  across  the  broad  stone  before 
the  kitchen  door,  and  the  irreverent  cat,  with  whom  I  sym 
pathized,  raced  like  mad  in  the  grass.  Growing  duller,  I 
went  to  the  cellar  door,  which  was  in  the  front  entry,  opened 
it,  and  stared  down  in  the  black  gulf,  till  I  saw  a  gray  rock 
rise  at  the  foot  of  the  stairs  which  affected  my  imagination. 
The  foundation  of  the  house  was  on  the  spurs  of  a  great 
granite  bed,  which  rose  from  the  Surrey  shores,  dipped  and 
cropped  out  in  the  center  of  Barmouth.  It  came  through  the 
ground  again  in  the  woodhouse,  smooth  and  round,  like  the 
bald  head  of  some  old  Titan,  and  in  the  border  of  the  garden 
it  burst  through  in  narrow  ridges  full  of  seams.  As  I  con 
templated  the  rock,  and  inhaled  a  moldy  atmosphere  whose 
component  parts  were  charcoal  and  potatoes,  I  heard  the 
first  stroke  of  the  nine  o'clock  bell,  which  hung  in  the  bel 
fry  of  the  church  across  the  street.  Although  it  was  so 
near  us  that  we  could  hear  the  bellrope  whistle  in  its 
grooves,  and  its  last  hoarse  breath  in  the  belfry,  there  was 
no  reverberation  of  its  clang  in  the  house ;  the  rock 
under  us  struck  back  its  voice.  It  was  an  old  Spanish  bell, 
Aunt  Mercy  told  me.  How  it  reached  Barmouth  she  did 
not  know.  I  recognized  its  complaining  voice  afterward. 
It  told  me  it  could  never  forget  it  had  been  baptized  a 
Catholic  ;  and  it  pined  for  the  beggar  who  rang  it  in  the 
land  of  fan-leaved  chestnuts  !  It  would  growl  and  strangle 
as  much  as  possible  in  the  hands  of  Benjamin  Beals,  the 
bell-ringer  and  coffin-maker  of  Barmouth.  Except  in  the 
morning  when  it  called  me  up,  I  was  glad  to  hear  it.  It  was 
the  signal  of  time  past  ;  the  oftener  I  heard  it,  the  nearer 
I  was  to  the  end  of  my  year.  Before  it  ceased  to  ring- 
now  Aunt  Mercy  called  me  in  a  low  voice.  I  returned  to 
the  middle  room,  and  took  a  seat  in  one  of  the  oak  chairs, 
whose  back  of  upright  rods  was  my  nightly  penance.  Aunt 
Mercy  took  the  lamp  from  the  shelf,  and  placed  it  upon  a 
small  oak  stand,  where  the  Bible  lay.  Grand'ther  entered, 
and  sitting  by  the  stand  read  a  chapter.  His  voice  was  like 
opium.  Presently  my  head  rolled  across  the  rods,  and  I  felt 
conscious  of  slipping  down  the  glassy  seat.  After  he  had 
read  the  chapter  he  prayed.  If  the  chapter  had  been  long, 
the  prayer  was  short  ;  if  the  chapter  had  been  short,  the 
prayer  was  long.  When  he  had  ceased  praying,  he  left  the 


3 2  THE  MORGESONS. 

room  without  speaking,  and  betook  himself  to  bed.  Aunt 
Mercy  dragged  me  up  the  steep  stairs,  undressed  me,  and 
I  crept  into  bed,  drugged  with  a  monotony  which  served  but 
to  deepen  the  sleep  of  youth  and  health.  When  the  bell 
rang  the  next  morning,  Aunt  Mercy  gave  me  a  preparatory 
shake  before  she  began  to  dress,  and  while  she  walked 
up  and  down  the  room  lacing  her  stays  entreated  me  to 
get  up. 

If  the  word  lively  could  ever  be  used  in  reference  to  our 
life,  it  might  be  in  regard  to  Sunday.  The  well  was  so  near 
the  church  that  the  house  was  used  as  an  inn  for  the  accom 
modation  of  the  church-goers  who  lived  at  any  distance,  and 
who  did  not  return  home  between  the  morning  and  afternoon 
services.  A  regular  set  took  dinner  with  us,  and  there  were 
parties  who  brought  lunch,  which  they  ate  off  their  handker 
chiefs,  on  their  knees.  It  was  also  a  watering-place  for  the 
Sunday-school  scholars,  who  filed  in  troops  before  the  pail 
in  the  well-room,  and  drank  from  the  cocoanut  dipper. 
When  the  weather  was  warm  our  parlor  was  open,  as  it  was 
to-day.  Aunt  Mercy  had  dusted  it  and  ornamented  the 
hearth  with  bunches  of  lilacs  in  a  broken  pitcher.  Twelve 
yellow  chairs,  a  mahogany  stand,  a  dark  rag-carpet,  some 
speckled  Pacific  sea-shells  on  the  shelf,  among  which  stood 
a  whale's  tooth  with  a  drawing  of  a  cranky  ship  thereon,  and 
an  ostrich's  egg  that  hung  by  a  string  from  the  ceiling, 
were  the  adornments  of  the  room.  When  we  were  dressed 
for  church,  we  looked  out  of  the  window  till  the  bell  tolled, 
and  the  chaise  of  the  Baxters  and  Sawyers  had  driven  to  the 
gate  ;  then  we  went  ourselves.  Grand'ther  had  preceded 
us,  and  was  already  in  his  seat.  Aunt  Mercy  went  up  to 
the  head  of  the  pew,  a  little  out  of  breath,  from  the  tight 
ness  of  her  dress,  and  the  ordeal  of  the  Baxter  and  Sawyer 
eyes,  for  the  pew,  though  off  a  side  aisle,  was  in  the  neigh 
borhood  of  the  elite  of  the  church  ;  a  clove,  however,  tran- 
quilized  her.  I  fixed  my  feet  on  a  cricket,  and  examined 
the  bonnets.  The  house  filled  rapidly,  and  last  of  all  the 
minister  entered.  The  singers  began  an  anthem,  singing  in 
an  advanced  style  of  the  art,  I  observed,  for  they  shouted 
" Armen"  while  our  singers  in  Surrey  bellowed  "Amen." 
When  the  sermon  began  I  settled  myself  into  a  vague  spec 
ulation  concerning  my  future  days  of  freedom  ;  but  my 
dreams  were  disturbed  by  the  conduct  of  the  Hickspold 


THE  MORGESONS.  33 

boys,  who  were  in  a  pew  in  front  of  us.  As  in  the  morning, 
so  in  the  afternoon  and  all  the  Sundays  in  the  year.  The 
variations  of  the  season  served  but  to  deepen  the  uniformity 
of  my  heartsickness. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

A  UNT  MERCY  had  not  introduced  me  to  Miss  Black 
£\  as  the  daughter  of  Locke  Morgeson,  the  richest  man  in 
Surrey,  but  simply  as  her  niece.  Her  pride  prevented 
her  from  making  any  exhibition  of  my  antecedents,  which 
was  wise,  considering  that  I  had  none.  My  grandfather, 
John  Morgeson,  was  a  nobody, — merely  a  "  Co.";  and 
though  my  great-grandfather,  Locke  Morgeson,  was  worthy 
to  be  called  a  Somebody,  it  was  not  his  destiny  to  make  a 
stir  in  the  world.  Many  of  the  families  of  my  Barmouth 
schoolmates  had  the  fulcrum  of  a  moneyed  grandfather.  The 
knowledge  of  the  girls  did  not  extend  to  that  period  in  the 
family  history  when  its  patriarchs  started  in  the  pursuit  of 
Gain.  Elmira  Sawyer,  one  of  Miss  Black's  pupils,  never 
heard  that  her  grandfather  "  Black  Peter,"  as  he  was  called, 
had  made  excursions,  in  an  earlier  part  of  his  life,  on  the 
River  Congo,  or  that  he  was  familiar  with  the  soundings  of 
Loango  Bay.  As  he  returned  from  his  voyages,  bringing 
more  and  more  money,  he  enlarged  his  estate,  and  grew 
more  and  more  respectable,  retiring  at  last  from  the  sea, 
to  become  a  worthy  landsman  ;  he  paid  taxes  to  church  and 
state,  and  even  had  a  silver  communion  cup,  among  the 
pewter  service  used  on  the  occasion  of  the  Lord's  Supper  ; 
but  he  never  was  brought  to  the  approval  of  that  project  of 
the  Congregational  Churches, — the  colonization  of  the 
Blacks  to  Liberia.  Neither  was  Hersila  Allen  aware  that 
the  pink  calico  in  which  I  first  saw  her  was  remotely  owing 
to  West  India  Rum.  Nor  did  Charlotte  Alden,  the  proud 
est  girl  in  school,  know  that  her  grandfather's,  Squire 
Aiden's,  stepping-stone  to  fortune  was  the  loss  of  the  brig 
Capricorn,  which  was  wrecked  in  the  vicinity  of  a  comfort 
able  port,  on  her  passage  out  to  the  whaling-ground.  An 
auger  had  been  added  to  the  meager  outfit,  and  long  after 
the  sea  had  leaked  through  the  hole  bored  through  her  bot 
tom,  and  swallowed  her,  and  the  insurance  had  been  paid, 


34  THE  MORGESONS. 

the  truth  leaked  out  that  the  captain  had  received  instruc 
tions,  which  had  been  fulfilled.  Whereupon  two  Insurance 
Companies  went  to  law  with  him,  and  a  suit  ensued,  which 
ended  in  their  paying  costs,  in  addition  to  what  they  had 
before  paid  Squire  Alden,  who  winked  in  a  derisive  man 
ner  at  theBoard  of  Directors  when  he  received  its  check. 

There  were  others  who  belonged  in  the  category  of  De 
cayed  Families,  as  exclusive  as  they  were  shabby.  There 
were  parvenus,  which  included  myself.  When  I  entered 
the  school  it  was  divided  into  clans,  each  with  its  spites,  jeal 
ousies,  and  emulations.  Its  esprit  de  corps,  however,  was  de 
veloped  by  my  arrival ;  the'girls  united  against  me,  and  though 
I  perceived,  when  I  compared  myself  with  them,  that  they  were 
partly  right  in  their  opinions,  their  ridicule  stupefied  and 
crushed  me.  They  were  trained,  intelligent,  and  adroit ;  I 
uncouth,  ignorant,  and  without  tact.  It  was  impossible  for 
Miss  Black  not  to  be  affected  by  the  general  feeling  in  regard 
to  me.  Her  pupils  knew  sooner  than  I  that  she  sympathized 
with  them.  She  embarrassed  me,  when  I  should  have  de 
spised  her.  At  first  her  regimen  surprised,  then  filled  me 
with  a  dumb,  clouded  anger,  which  made  me  appear 
apathetic. 

Miss  Emily  Black  was  a  young  woman,  and,  I  thought,  a 
handsome  one.  She  had  crenelated  black  hair,  large  black 
eyes,  a  Roman  nose,  and  long  white  teeth.  She  bit  her 
nails  when  annoyed,  and  when  her  superiority  made  her 
perceive  the  mental  darkness  of  others  she  often  laughed. 
Being  pious,  she  conducted  her  school  after  the  theologic 
pattern  of  the  Nipswich  Seminary,  at  which  she  had  been 
educated.  She  opened  the  school  each  day  with  a  relig 
ious  exercise,  reading  something  from  the  Bible,  and  com 
menting  upon  it,  or  questioning  us  regarding  our  ideas  of 
what  she  read.  She  often  selected  the  character  of  David, 
and  was  persistent  in  her  efforts  to  explain  and  reconcile 
the  discrepancies  in  the  history  of  the  royal  Son  of  Israel. 

"  Miss  C.  Morgeson,  we  will  call  you,"  she  said,  in  our 
first  interview  ;  "  the  name  of  Cassandra  is  too  peculiar." 

"  My  Grandfather  Locke  liked  the  name  ;  my  sister's  is 
Veronica  ;  do  you  like  that  better  ?  " 

"It  is  of  no  consequence  in  the  premises  what  your  sister 
may  be  named,"  she  replied,  running  her  eyes  over  me. 
"  What  will  she  study,  Miss  Warren  ?  " 


THE  MORGESONS,  35 

Aunt  Mercy's  recollections  of  my  studies  were  dim,  and 
her  knowledge  of  my  school  days  was  not  calculated  to  pre 
possess  a  teacher  in  my  favor  ;  but  after  a  moment's  delay, 
she  said  :  "  What  you  think  best." 

"  Very  well,"  she  answered  ;  "  I  will  endeavor  to  fulfill 
my  Christian  duty  toward  her.  We  will  return  to  the  school 
room." 

We  had  held  the  conversation  in  the  porch,  and  now  Aunt 
Mercy  gave  me  a  nod  of  encouragement,  and  bidding  Miss 
Black  "  Good  day,"  departed,  looking  behind  her  as  long 
as  possible.  I  followed  my  teacher.  As  she  opened  the 
door  forty  eyes  were  leveled  at  me  ;  my  hands  were  in  my 
way  suddenly  ;  my  feet  impeded  my  progress  ;  how  could  I 
pass  that  wall  of  eyes  ?  A  wisp  of  my  dry,  rough  hair  fell 
on  my  neck  and  tickled  it ;  as  I  tried  to  poke  it  under  my 
comb,  I  glanced  at  the  faces  before  me.  Ho\v  spirited  and 
delicate  they  were  !  The  creatures  had  their  heads  dressed 
as  if  they  were  at  a  party — in  curls,  or  braids  and  ribbons. 
An  open,  blank,  noli  me  tangere  expression  met  my  per 
turbed  glance.  I  stood  still,  but  my  head  went  round. 
Miss  Black  mounted  her  desk,  and  surveyed  the  school 
room.  "  Miss  Charlotte  Alden,  the  desk  next  you  is  vacant ; 
Miss  C.  Morgeson,  the  new  pupil,  may  take  it." 

Miss  Charlotte  answered,  "  Yes  mini,"  and  ostentatiously 
swept  away  an  accumulation  of  pencils,  sponges,  papers,  and 
books,  to  make  room  for  me.  I  took  the  seat,  previously 
stumbling  against  her,  whereat  all  the  girls,  whose  regards 
were  fixed  upon  me,  smiled.  That  was  my  initiation. 

The  first  day  I  was  left  to  myself,  to  make  studies.  The 
school-room  was  in  the  vestry  of  the  church,  a  building  near 
grand'ther's  house.  Each  girl  had  a  desk  before  her. 
Miss  Black  occupied  a  high  stool  in  a  square  box.  where  she 
heard  single  recitations,  or  lectured  a  pupil.  The  vestry 
yard,  where  the  girls  romped,  and  exercised  with  skipping 
ropes,  a  swing,  and  a  set  of  tilting-boards,  commanded  a 
view  of  grand'ther's  premises  ;  his  street  windows  were 
exposed  to  the  fire  of  their  eyes  and  tongues. 

After  I  went  home  I  examined  myself  in  the  glass,  and 
drew  an  unfavorable  conclusion  from  the  inspection.  My 
hair  was  parted  zigzag  ;  one  shoulder  was  higher  than  the 
other  ;  my  dress  came  up  to  my  chin,  and  slipped  down  to 
my  shoulder-blades.  I  was  all  waist ;  no  hips  were  devel- 


36  THE  MORGESONS. 

oped  ;  my  hands  were  red,  and  my  nails  chipped.  I  opened 
the  trunk  where  my  wardrobe  was  packed  ;  what  belonged 
to  me  was  comfortable,  in  reference  to  weather  and  the 
wash,  but  not  pretty.  I  found  a  molasses-colored  silk, 
called  Turk  satin — one  of  mother's  old  dresses,  made  over 
for  me,  or  an  invidious  selection  of  hers  from  the  purchases 
of  father,  who  sometimes  made  a  mistake  in  taste,  owing 
to  the  misrepresentations  of  shopkeepers  and  milliners. 
While  thus  engaged  Aunt  Mercy  came  for  me,  and  began  to 
scold  when  she  saw  that  I  had  tumbled  my  clothes  out  of 
the  trunk. 

"  Aunt  Mercy,  these  things  are  horrid,  all  of  them.  Look 
at  this  shawl,"  and  I  unrolled  a  square  silk  fabric,  the  color 
of  a  sick  orange.  "  Where  did  this  come  from  ? " 

"  Saints  upon  earth  !  "  she  exclaimed,  "  your  father 
bought  it  at  the  best  store  in  New  York.  It  was  costly." 

"  Now  tell  me,  why  do  the  pantalettes  of  those  girls  look 
so  graceful  ?  They  do  not  twirl  round  the  ankle  like  a  rope, 
as  mine  do." 

"  I  can't  say,"  she  answered,  with  a  sigh.  "  But  you 
ought  to  wear  long  dresses  ;  now  yours  are  tucked,  and 
could  be  let  down." 

"  And  these  red  prunella  boots — they  look  like  boiled 
crabs."  I  put  them  on,  and  walked  round  the  room  crab- 
fashion,  till  she  laughed  hysterically.  "  Miss  Charlotte 
Alden  wears  French  kid  slippers  every  day,  and  I  must 
wear  mine." 

"  No,"  she  said,  "  you  must  only  wear  them  to  church." 

"  I  shall  talk  to  father  about  that,  when  he  comes  here 
next." 

"  Gassy,  did  Charlotte  Alden  speak  to  you  to-day  ?" 

"  No  ;  but  she  made  an  acquaintance  by  stares." 

"  Well,  never  mind  her  if  she  says  anything  unpleasant  to 
you  ;  the  Aldens  are  a  high  set." 

"Are  they  higher  than  .we  are  in  Surrey?  Have  they 
heard  of  my  father,  who  is  equal  to  the  President  ? " 

"  We  are  all  equal  in  the  sight  of  God." 

"  You  do  not  look  as  if  you  thought  so,  Aunt  Mercy. 
Why  do  you  say  things  in  Barmouth  you  never  said  in 
Surrey?" 

"  Come  downstairs,  Cassandra,  and  help  me  finish  the 
dishes." 


THE  MORGESONS.  37 

Our  conversation  was  ended  ;  but  I  still  had  my  thoughts 
on  the  clothes  question,  and  revolved  my  plans. 

After  the  morning  exercises  the  next  day,  Miss  Black 
called  me  in  to  her  desk.  "  I  think,"  she  said,  "  you  had 
better  study  Geology.  It  is  important,  for  it  will  lead  your 
mind  up  from  nature  to  nature's  God.  My  young  ladies 
have  finished  their  studies  in  that  direction  ;  therefore  you 
will  recite  alone,  once  a  day." 

"Yes  "em,"  I  replied  ;  but  it  was  the  first  time  that  I  had 
heard  of  Geology.  The  compendium  she  gave  me  must 
have  been  dull  and  dry.  I  could  not  get  its  lessons  per 
fectly.  It  never  inspired  me  with  any  interest  for  land  or 
sea.  I  could  not  associate  any  of  its  terms,  or  descriptions, 
with  the  great  rock  under  grand'ther's  house.  It  was  not 
for  Miss  Black  to  open  the  nodules  of  my  understanding, 
with  her  hammer  of  instruction.  She  proposed  Botany 
also.  The  young  ladies  made  botanical  excursions  to  the 
fields  and  woods  outside  Barmouth  ;  I  might  as  well  join 
the  class  at  once.  It  was  now  in  the  family  of  the  Legumes. 
I  accompanied  the  class  on  one  excursion.  Not  a  soul  ap 
peared  to  know  that  I  was  present,  and  I  declined  going 
again.  Composition  I  must  write  once  a  month.  A  few 
more  details  closed  the  interview.  I  mentioned  in  it  that 
father  desired  me  to  study  arithmetic.  Miss  Black  placed 
me  in  a  class  ;  but  her  interests  were  in  the  higher  and 
more  elegant  branches  of  education.  I  made  no  more  ad 
vance  in  the  humble  walks  of  learning  than  in  those  adorned 
by  the  dissection  of  flowers,  the  disruption  of  rocks,  or  the 
graces  of  composition.  Though  I  entered  upon  my  duties 
under  protest,  I  soon  became  accustomed  to  their  routine, 
and  the  rest  of  my  life  seemed  more  like  a  dream  of  the 
future  than  a  realization  of  the  present.  I  refused  to  go 
home  at  the  end  of  the  month.  I  preferred  waiting,  I  said, 
to  the  end  of  the  year.  I  was  not  urged  to  change  my 
mind  ;  neither  was  I  applauded  for  my  resolution.  The 
day  that  I  could  have  gone  home,  I  asked  father  to  drive 
me  to  Milford,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river  which  ran 
by  Barmouth.  I  shut  my  eyes  tight,  when  the  horse  struck 
the  boards  of  the  long  wooden  bridge  between  the  towns, 
and  opened  them  when  we  stopped  at  an  inn  by  the  water 
side  of  Milford.  Father  took  me  into  a  parlor,  where  sat  a 
handsome,  fat  woman,  hemming  towels. 


38  THE  MORGESONS. 

"  Is  that  you,  Morgeson  ? "  she  said.  "  Is  this  your 
daughter?" 

"  Yes  ;  can  I  leave  her  with  you,  while  I  go  to  the  bank  ? 
She  has  not  been  here  before." 

"  Lord  ha'  mercy  on  us  ;  you  clip  her  wings,  don't  you  ? 
Come  here,  child,  and  let  me  pull  off  your  pelisse." 

I  went  to  her  with  a  haughty  air  ;  it  did  not  please  me  to 
hear  my  father  called  "  Morgeson,"  by  a  person  unknown  to 
me.  She  understood  my  expression,  and  looked  up  at 
father  ;  they  both  smiled,  and  I  was  vexed  with  him  for  his 
unwarrantable  familiarity.  Pinching  my  cheek  with  her  fat 
fingers,  which  were  covered  with  red  and  green  rings,  she 
said,  "We  shall  do  very  well  together.  What  a  pretty  silk 
pelisse,  and  silver  buckles,  too." 

After  father  went  out,  and  my  bonnet  was  disposed  of, 
Mrs.  Tabor  gave  me  a  huge  piece  of  delicious  sponge-cake, 
which  softened  me  somewhat. 

'  What  is  your  name,  dear  ? " 

'  Morgeson." 

'  It  is  easy  to  see  that." 

'  Well,  Cassandra." 

'  Oh,  what  a  lovely  name,"  and  she  drew  from  her  work- 
basket  a  paper-covered  book  ;  "  there  is  no  name  in  this 
novel  half  so  pretty  ;  I  wish  the  heroine's  name  had  been 
Cassandra  instead  of  Aldebrante." 

"  Let  me  see  it,"  I  begged. 

"  There  is  a  horrid  monk  in  it "  ;  but  she  gave  it  to  me, 
and  was  presently  called  out.  I  devoured  its  pages,  and 
for  the  only  time  in  that  year  of  Barmouth  life,  I  forgot  my 
own  wants  and  woes.  She  saw  my  interest  in  the  book 
when  she  came  back,  and  coaxed  it  from  me,  offering  me 
more  cake,  which  I  accepted.  She  told  me  that  she  had 
known  father  for  years,  and  that  he  kept  his  horse  at  the 
inn  stables,  and  dined  with  her.  "  But  I  never  knew  that 
he  had  a  daughter,"  she  continued.  "  Are  you  the  only 
child?" 

"  I  have  a  sister,"  and  after  a  moment  remembered  that 
I  had  a  brother,  too  ;  but  did  not  think  it  a  fact  necessary 
to  mention. 

"  I  have  no  children." 

"  But  you  have  novels  to  read." 

She  laughed,  and  by  the  time  father  returned  we  were 


THE  MORGESONS.  39 

quite  chatty.  After  dinner  I  asked  him  to  go  to  some 
shops  with  me.  He  took  me  to  a  jeweler's,  and  without 
consulting  me  bought  an  immense  mosaic  brooch,  with  a 
ruined  castle  on  it,  and  a  pretty  ring  with  a  gold  stone. 

'  Is  there  anything  more  ? "  he  asked,  you  would  like? 

'  Yes,  I  want  a  pink  calico  dress." 

'  Why  ?  " 

'  Because  the  girls  at  Miss  Black's  wear  pink  calico." 

'  Why  not  get  a  pink  silk  ?  " 

'  I  must  have  a  pink  French  calico,  with  a  three-cornered 
white  cloud  on  it ;  it  is  the  fashion." 

"  The  fashion  !  "  he  echoed  with  contempt.  But  the  dress 
was  bought,  and  we  went  back  to  Barmouth. 

When  I  appeared  in  school  with  my  new  brooch  and  ring 
the  girls  crowded  round  me. 

"What  does  that  pin  represent,  whose  estate  ?  "  inquired 
one,  with  envy  in  her  voice. 

"  Don't  the  ring  make  the  blood  rush  into  your  hand  ?  " 
asked  another  ;  "  it  looks  so." 

"  Does  it  ? "  I  answered  ;  "  I'll  hold  up  my  hand  in  the 
air,  as  you  do,  to  make  it  white." 

"What  is  your  father's  business  ? "  asked  Elmira  Sawyer, 
"  is  he  a  tailor  ? " 

Her  insolence  made  my  head  swim  ;  but  I  did  not  reply. 
When  recess  was  over  a  few  minutes  afterward,  I  cried 
under  the  lid  of  my  desk.  These  girls  overpowered  me, 
for  I  could  not  conciliate  them,  and  had  no  idea  of  revenge, 
believing  that  their  ridicule  was  deserved.  But  I  thought 
I  should  like  to  prove  myself  respectable.  How  could  I  ? 
Grand'ther  was  a  tailor,  and  I  could  not  demean  myself  by 
assuring  them  that  my  father  was  a  gentleman. 

In  the  course  of  a  month  Aunt  Mercy  had  my  pink  calico 
made  up  by  the  best  dressmaker  in  Barmouth.  When  I  put 
it  on  I  thought  I  looked  better  than  I  ever  had  before,  and 
went  into  school  triumphantly  with  it.  The  girls  surveyed 
me  in  silence  ;  but  criticised  me.  At  last  Charlotte  Alden 
asked  me  in  a  whisper  if  old  Mr.  Warren  made  my  dress. 
She  wrote  on  a  piece  of  paper,  in  large  letters — "  Girls,  don't 
let's  wear  our  pink  calicoes  again,"  and  pushing  it  over  to 
Elmira  Sawyer,  made  signs  that  the  paper  should  be  passed 
to  all  the  girls.  They  read  it,  and  turning  to  Charlotte 
Alden  nodded.  I  watched  the  paper  as  it  made  its 


40  THE  MORGESONS. 

round,  and  saw  Mary  Bennett  drop  it  on  the  floor  with  a 
giggle. 

It  was  a  rainy  day,  and  we  passed  the  recess  indoors.  I 
remained  quiet,  looking  over  my  lesson.  "  The  first  period 
ends  with  the  carboniferous  system  ;  the  second  includes 
the  saliferous  and  magnesian  systems  ;  the  third  comprises 
the  oolitic  and  chalk  systems ;  the  fourth — "  "  How  at 
tentive  some  people  are  to  their  lessons,"  I  heard  Charlotte 
Alden  say.  Looking  up,  I  saw  her  near  me  with  Elmira 
Sawyer. 

"  What  is  that  you  say  ?  "  I  asked  sharply. 

"  I  am  not  speaking  to  you." 

"I  am  angry,"  I  said  in  a  low  tone,  and  rising,  "  and  have 
borne  enough." 

"  Who  are  yoti  that  you  should  be  angry  ?  We  have  heard 
about  your  mother,  when  she  was  in  love,  poor  thing." 

I  struck  her  so  violent  a  blow  in  the  face  that  she  stag 
gered  backward.  "You  are  a  liar,"  I  said,  "and  you  must 
let  me  alone."  Elmira  Sawyer  turned  white,  and  moved 
away.  I  threw  my  book  at  her  ;  it  hit  her  head,  and  her 
comb  was  broken  by  my  geological  systems.  There  was  a 
stir  ;  Miss  Black  hurried  from  her  desk,  saying,  "  Young 
ladies,  what  does  this  mean  ?  Miss  C.  Morgeson,  your  tem 
per  equals  your  vulgarity,  I  find.  Take  your  seat  in  my 
desk." 

I  obeyed  her,  and  as  we  passed  Mary  Bennett's  desk,  where 
I  saw  the  paper  fall,  I  picked  it  up.  "  See  the  good  man 
ners  of  your  favorite,  Miss  Black  ;  read  it."  She  bit  her 
lips  as  she  glanced  over  it,  turned  back  as  if  to  speak  to 
Charlotte  Alden,  looked  at  me  again,  and  went  on:  "Sit 
down,  Miss  C.  Morgeson,  and  reflect  on  the  blow  you  have 
given.  Will  you  ask  pardon  ? " 

"  I  will  not ;  you  know  that." 

"  I  have  never  resorted  to  severe  punishment  yet ;  but  I 
fear  I  shall  be  obliged  to  in  your  case." 

"  Let  me  go  from  here."  I  clenched  my  hands,  and  tried 
to  get  up.  She  held  me  down  on  the  seat,  and  we  looked 
close  in  each  other's  eyes.  "  You  are  a  bad  girl."  "And 
you  are  a  bad  woman,"  I  replied  ;  "  mean  and  cruel."  She 
made  a  motion  to  strike  me,  but  her  hand  dropped  ;  I  felt 
my  nostrils  quiver  strangely.  "  For  shame,"  she  said,  in  a 
tremulous  voice,  and  turned  away.  I  sat  on  the  bench  at 


THE  MORGESONS.  41 

the  back  of  the  desk,  heartily  tired,  till  school  was  dis 
missed  ;  as  Charlotte  Alden  passed  out,  courtesying,  Miss 
Black  said  she  hoped  she  would  extend  a  Christian  forgive 
ness  to  Miss  C.  Morgeson,  for  her  unladylike  behavior. 
"  Miss  C.  Morgeson  is  a  peculiar  case." 

She  gave  her  a  meaning  look,  which  was  not  lost  upon 
me.  Charlotte  answered,  "Certainly,"  and  bowed  to  me 
gracefully,  whereat  I  felt  a  fresh  sense  of  my  demerits,  and 
concluded  that  I  was  worsted  in  the  fray. 

Miss  Black  asked  no  explanation  of  the  affair  ;  it  was 
dropped,  and  none  of  the  girls  alluded  to  it  by  hint  or  look 
afterward.  When  I  told  Aunt  Mercy  of  it,  she  turned  pale, 
and  said  she  knew  what  Charlotte  Alden  meant,  and  that 
perhaps  mother  would  tell  me  in  good  time. 

"  We  had  a  good  many  troubles  in  our  young  days, 
Cassy." 


CHAPTER  X. 

rPHE  atmosphere  of  my  two  lives  was  so  different,  that 
J[  when  I  passed  into  one,  the  other  ceased  to  affect  me. 
I  forgot  all  that  I  suffered  and  hated  at  Miss  Black's,  as 
soon  as  I  crossed  the  threshold,  and  entered  grand'ther's 
house.  The  difference  kept  up  a  healthy  mean  ;  either  alone 
would  perhaps  have  been  more  than  I  could  then  have  sus 
tained.  All  that  year  my  life  was  narrowed  to  that  house,  my 
school,  and  the  church.  Father  offered  to  take  me  to  ride, 
when  he  came  to  Barmouth,  or  carry  me  to  Milford ;  but 
the  motion  of  the  carriage,  and  the  conveying  power  of  the 
horse,  created  such  a  fearful  and  realizing  sense  of  escape, 
that  I  gave  up  riding  with  him.  Aunt  Mercy  seldom  left 
home  ;  my  schoolmates  did  not  invite  me  to  visit  them ;  the 
seashore  was  too  distant  for  me  to  ramble  there ;  the  store 
houses  and  wharves  by  the  river-side  offered  no  agreeable 
saunterings  ;  and  the  street,  in  Aunt  Mercy's  estimation, 
was  not  the  place  for  an  idle  promenade.  My  exercise, 
therefore,  was  confined  to  the  garden — a  pleasant  spot,  now 
that  midsummer  had  come,  and  inhabited  with  winged  and 
crawling  creatures,  with  whom  I  claimed  companionship, 
especially  with  the  red,  furry  caterpillars,  that  have,  alas, 
nearly  passed  away,  and  given  place  to  a  variegated,  fan- 


42  THE  MORGESONS. 

tastic  tribe,  which  gentleman  farmers  are  fond  of  writing 
about. 

Mother  rode  over  to  Barmouth  occasionally,  but  seemed 
more  glad  when  she  went  away  than  when  she  came.  Ve 
ronica  came  with  her  once,  but  said  she  would  come  no  more 
while  I  was  there.  She  too  would  wait  till  the  end  of  the 
year,  for  I  spoiled  the  place.  She  said  this  so  calmly  that 
I  never  thought  of  being  offended  by  it.  I  told  her  the 
episode  of  the  pink  calico.  "  It  is  a  lovely  color,"  she  said, 
when  I  showed  it  to  her.  "If  you  like,  I  will  take  it  home 
and  burn  it." 

As  I  developed  the  dramatic  part  of  my  story — the  blow 
given  Charlotte  Alden,  Verry  rubbed  her  face  shrinkingly, 
as  if  she  had  felt  the  blow.  "Let  me  see  your  hand,"  she 
asked  ;  "  did  I  ever  strike  anybody  ?  " 

"  You  threw  a  pail  of  salt  downstairs,  once,  upon  my  head, 
and  put  out  my  sight." 

"  I  wish,  when  you  are  home,  you  would  pound  Mr.  Park  ; 
he  talks  too  much  about  the  Resurrection.  And,"  she  added 
mysteriously,  "  he  likes  mother." 

"  Likes  mother  !  "  I  said  aghast. 

"  He  watches  her  so  when  she  holds  Arthur  !  Why  do 
you  stare  at  me  ?  Why  do  I  talk  to  you  ?  I  am  going.  Now 
mind,  I  shall  never  leave  home  to  go  to  any  school  ;  I  shall 
know  enough  without." 

While  Veronica  was  holding  this  placable  talk  with  me,  I 
discovered  in  her  the  high-bred  air,  the  absence  of  which 
I  deplored  in  myself. 

How  cool  and  unimpressionable  she  looked  !  She  did 
not  attract  me  then.  My  mind  wandered  to  what  I  had 
heard  Mary  Bennett  say,  in  recess  one  day,  that  her 
brother  had  seen  me  in  church,  and  came  home  with  the 
opinion  that  I  was  the  handsomest  girl  in  Miss  Black's 
school. 

"  Is  it  possible  ! "  replied  the  girl  to  whom  she  had  made 
the  remark.  "  I  never  should  think  of  calling  her  pretty." 

"Stop,  Veronica,"  I  called;  "am  I  pretty?"  She 
turned  back.  "  Everybody  in  Surrey  says  so  ;  and  every 
body  says  I  am  not."  And  she  banged  the  door  against  me. 

She  did  not  come  to  Barmouth  again.  She  was  ill  in 
the  winter,  and,  father  told  me,  queerer  than  ever,  and  more 
trouble.  The  summer  passed,  and  I  had  no  particular  tor- 


THE  MORGESONS.  43 

ment,  except  Miss  Black's  reference  to  composition.  I 
could  not  do  justice  to  the  themes  she  gave  us,  not  having 
the  books  from  which  she  took  them  at  command,  and  be 
trayed  an  ignorance  which  excited  her  utmost  contempt,  on 
"The  Scenery  of  Singapore,"  "  The  Habits  of  the  Hotten 
tots,"  and  "  The  Relative  Merits  of  Homer  and  Virgil." 

In  October  Sally  and  Ruth  Aiken  came  for  the  fall  sew 
ing.  They  had  farmed  it  all  summer,  they  said,  and  were 
tanned  so  deep  a  hue  that  their  faces  bore  no  small  resem 
blance  to  ham.  Ruth  brought  me  some  apples  in  an  ochre- 
colored  bag,  and  Sally  eyed  me  with  her  old  severity.  As  they 
took  their  accustomed  seats  at  the  table,  I  thought  they  had 
swallowed  the  interval  of  time  which  had  gone  by  since  they 
left,  so  precisely  the  same  was  the  moment  of  their  leaving 
and  that  of  their  coming  back.  I  knew  grand'ther  no  bet 
ter  than  when  I  saw  him  first.  He  was  sociable  to  those 
who  visited  the  house,  but  never  with  those  abiding  in  his 
family.  Me  he  never  noticed,  except  when  I  ate  less  than 
usual  ;  then  he  peered  into  my  face,  and  said,  "  What  ails 
you  ?  "  We  had  the  benefit  of  his  taciturn  presence  contin 
ually,  for  he  rarely  went  out ;  and  although  he  did  not  inter 
fere  with  Aunt  Mercy's  work,  he  supervised  it,  weighed  and 
measured  every  article  that  was  used,  and  kept  the  cellar 
and  garden  in  perfect  order. 

It  was  approaching  the  season  of  killing  the  pig,  and  he 
conferred  often  with  Aunt  Mercy  on  the  subject.  The 
weather  was  watched,  and  the  pig  poked  daily,  in  the  hope 
that  the  fat  was  thickening  on  his  ribs.  When  the  day  of  his 
destiny  arrived,  there  was  almost  confusion  in  the  house,  and 
for  a  week  after,  of  evenings,  grand'ther  went  about  with  a 
lantern,  and  was  not  himself  till  a  new  occupant  was  ob 
tained  for  the  vacant  pen,  and  all  his  idiosyncracies  revealed 
and  understood. 

"  Grand'ther,"  I  asked,  "  will  the  beautiful  pigeons  that 
live  in  the  pig's  roof  like  the  horrid  new  pig  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  he  answered,  briskly  rubbing  his  hands,  "but  they 
eat  the  pig's  corn  ;  and  I  can't  afford  that ;  I  shall  have  to 
shoot  them,  I  guess." 

"Oh,  don't,  grand'ther." 

"  I  will  this  very  day.     Where's  the  gun,  Mercy  ? " 

In  an  hour  the  pigeons  were  shot,  except  two  which  had 
flown  away. 


44  THE  MORGESONS. 

"  Why  did  you  ask  him  not  to  shoot  the  pigeons  ?  "  said 
Aunt  Mercy.  "  Jf  you  had  said  nothing,  he  would  not  have 
done,  it." 

"  He  is  a  disagreeable  relation,"  I  answered,  "  and  I  am 
glad  he  is  a  tailor." 

Aunt  Mercy  reproved  me  ;  but  the  loss  of  the  pigeons 
vexed  her.  Perhaps  grand'ther  thought  so,  for  that  night 
he  asked  after  her  geraniums,  and  told  her  that  a  gardener 
had  promised  him  some  fine  slips  for  her.  She  looked 
pleased,  but  did  not  thank  him.  There  was  already  a  beau 
tiful  stand  of  flowers  in  the  middle  room,  which  was  odor 
ous  the  year  round  with  their  perfume. 

The  weather  was  now  cold,  and  we  congregated  about  the 
fire  ;  for  there  was  no  other  comfortable  room  in  the  house. 
One  afternoon,  when  I  was  digging  in  Aunt  Mercy's  gera 
nium  pots,  and  picking  off  the  dead  leaves,  two  deacons 
came  to  visit  grand'ther,  and,  hovering  over  the  fire  with 
him,  complained  of  the  lukewarmness  of  the  church  brethren 
in  regard  to  the  spiritual  condition  of  the  Society.  A 
shower  of  grace  was  needed  ;  there  were  reviving  symptoms 
in  some  of  the  neighboring  churches,  but  none  in  Barmouth. 
Something  must  be  done — a  fast  day  appointed,  or  especial 
prayer-meetings  held.  This  was  on  Saturday  ;  the  next 
day  the  ceremony  of  the  Lord's  Supper  would  take  place, 
and  grand'ther  recommended  that  the  minister  should  be 
asked  to  suggest  something  to  the  church  which  might 
remove  it  from  its  hardness. 

"Are  the  vessels  scoured,  Mercy?"  he  asked,  after  the 
deacons  had  gone. 

"  I  have  no  sand." 

He  presently  brought  her  a  biggin  of  fine  white  sand, 
which  brought  the  shore  of  Surrey  to  my  mind's  eye.  I 
followed  her  as  she  carried  it  to  the  well-room,  where  I  saw, 
on  the  meal-chest,  two  large  pewter  plates,  two  flagons  of 
the  same  metal,  and  a  dozen  or  more  cups,  some  of  silver, 
and  marked  with  the  owner's  name.  They  were  soon 
cleaned.  Then  she  made  a  fire  in  the  oven,  and  mixed 
loaves  in  a  peculiar  shape,  and  launched  them  into  the  oven. 
She  watched  the  bread  carefully,  and  took  it  out  before  it 
had  time  to  brown. 

"This  work  belongs  to   the  deacons'  wives,"  she  said  ; 


THE  MORGESONS.  45 

"  but  it  has  been  done  in  this  house  for  years.     The  bread 
is  not  like  ours — it  is  unleavened." 

Grand'ther  carried  it  into  the  church  after  she  had  cut  it 
with  a  sharp  knife  so  that  at  the  touch  it  would  fall  apart 
into  square  bits.  When  the  remains  were  brought  back,  I 
went  to  the  closet,  where  they  were  deposited,  and  took  a 
piece  of  the  bread,  eating  it  reflectively,  to  test  its  solemn 
izing  powers.  I  felt  none,  and  when  Aunt  Mercy  boiled, 
the  remnants  with  milk  for  a  pudding,  the  sacred  ideality6 
of  the  ceremony  I  had  seen  at  church  was  destroyed 
for  me. 

Was  it  a  pity  that  my  life  was  not  conducted  on  Nature's 
plan,  who  shows  us  the  beautiful,  while  she  conceals  the  in 
terior  ?  We  do  not  see  the  roots  of  her  roses,  and  she  hides 
from  us  her  skeletons. 

November  passed,  with  its  Thanksgiving — the  sole  day 
of  all  the  year  which  grand'ther  celebrated,  by  buying  a 
goose  for  dinner,  which  goose  was  stewed  with  rye  dump 
lings,  that  slid  over  my  plate  like  glass  balls.  Sally  and 
Ruth  betook  themselves  to  their  farm,  and  hybernated. 
December  came,  and  with  it  a  young  woman  named  Caro 
line,  to  learn  the  tailor's  trade.  Lively  and  pretty,  she 
changed  our  atmosphere.  She  broke  the  silence  of  the 
morning  by  singing  the  "  Star-spangled  Banner,"  or  the 
"  Braes  of  Balquhither,"  and  disturbed  the  monotony  of 
the  evenings  by  making  molasses  candy,  which  grand'ther 
ate,  and  which  seemed  to  have  a  mollifying  influence. 
Grand'ther  kept  his  eye  on  Caroline  ;  but  his  eye  had  no 
disturbing  effect.  She  had  no  perception  of  his  character; 
was  fearless  with  him,  and  went  contrary  to  all  his  ideas, 
and  he  liked  her  for  it.  She  even  reproved  him  for  keeping 
such  a  long  face.  Her  sewing,  which  was  very  bad,  tried 
his  patience  so,  that  if  it  had  not  been  for  her  mother,  who 
was  a  poor  widow,  he  would  have  given  up  the  task  of  teach 
ing  her  the  trade.  She  said  she  knew  she  couldn't  learn 
it;  what  was  the  use  of  trying?  She  meant  to  go  West, 
and  thought  she  might  make  a  good  home-missionary,  as 
she  did,  for  she  married  a  poor  young  man,  who  had  for 
saken  the  trade  of  a  cooper,  to  study  for  the  ministry,  and 
was  helped  off  to  Ohio  by  the  Society  of  Home  Missions. 
She  came  to  see  me  in  Surrey  ten  years  afterward,  a  gaunt, 
hollow-eyed  woman,  of  forbidding  manners,  and  an  im- 


46  THE  MORGESONS. 

placable  faith  in  no  rewards  or  punishments  this  side  of  the 
grave. 

I  suffered  so  from  the  cold  that  December  that  I  in 
formed  mother  of  the  fact  by  letter.  She  wrote  back  : 

"  My  child,  have  courage.  One  of  these  days  you  will 
feel  a  tender  pity,  when  you  think  of  your  mother's  girl 
hood.  You  are  learning  how  she  lived  at  your  age.  I 
trembled  at  the  prosperity  of  your  opening  life,  and  believed 
it  best  for  you  to  have  a  period  of  contrast.  I  thought 
you  would,  by  and  by,  understand  me  better  than  I  do  my 
self ;  for  you  are  not  like  me,  Gassy,  you  are  like  your 
father.  You  shall  never  go  back  to  Barmouth,  unless  you 
wish  it.  Dear  Gassy,  do  you  pray  any  ?  I  send  you  some 
new  petticoats,  and  a  shawl.  Does  Mercy  warm  the  bed 
for  you?  Your  affectionate  Mother." 

I  dressed  and  undressed  in  Aunt  Mercy's  room,  which 
was  under  the  roof,  with  benumbed  fingers.  My  hair  was 
like  the  coat  of  a  cow  in  frosty  weather  ;  it  was  so  frowzy; 
and  so  divided  against  itself,  that  when  I  tried  to  comb  it, 
it  streamed  out  like  the  tail  of  a  comet.  Aunt  Mercy  dis 
covered  that  I  was  afflicted  with  chilblains,  and  had  a  good 
cry  over  them,  telling  me,  at  the  same  moment,  that  my 
French  slippers  were  the  cause.  We  had  but  one  fire  in 
the  house,  except  the  fire  in  the  shop,  which  was  allowed  to 
go  down  at  sunset.  Sometimes  I  found  a  remaining  warmth 
in  the  goose,  which  had  been  left  in  the  ashes,  and  borrowed 
it  for  my  stiffened  fingers.  I  did  not  get  thoroughly  warm 
all  day,  for  the  fire  in  the  middle  room,  made  of  green 
wood,  was  continually  in  the  process  of  being  stifled  with  a 
greener  stick,  as  the  others  kindled.  The  school-room  was 
warm  ;  but  I  had  a  back  seat  by  a  window,  where  my  feet 
were  iced  by  a  current,  and  my  head  exposed  to  a  draught. 
In  January  I  had  so  bad  an  ague  that  I  was  confined  at 
home  a  week.  But  I  grew  fast  in  spite  of  all  my  discom 
forts.  Aunt  Mercy  took  the  tucks  out  of  my  skirts,  and  I 
burst  out  where  there  were  no  tucks.  I  assumed  a  woman 
ly  shape.  Stiff  as  my  hands  were,  and  purple  as  were  my 
arms,  I  could  see  that  they  were  plump  and  well  shaped. 
I  had  lost  the  meagerness  of  childhood  and  began  to 
feel  a  new  and  delightful  affluence.  What  an  appetite  I 
had,  too  ! 

"  The  creature   will  eat   us  out  of  house   and  home," 


THE  MORGESONS.  47 

said  grand'ther  one  day,  looking  at  me,  for  him  good- 
humoredly. 

"  Well,  don't  shoot  me,  as  you  shot  the  pigeons." 

"Pah,  have  pigeons  a  soul?" 

In  February  the  weather  softened,  and  a  great  revival 
broke  out.  It  was  the  dullest  time  of  the  year  in  Barmouth. 
The  ships  were  at  sea  still,  and  the  farmers  had  only  to 
fodder  their  cattle,  so  that  everybody  could  attend  the  pro 
tracted  meeting.  It  was  the  same  as  Sunday  at  our  house 
for  nine  days.  Miss  Black,  in  consequence  of  the  awaken 
ing,  dismissed  the  school  for  two  weeks,  that  the  pupils 
might  profit  in  what  she  told  us  was  The  Scheme  of  Sal 
vation. 

Caroline  was  among  the  first  converts.  I  observed  her 
from  the  moment  I  was  told  she  was  under  Conviction,  till 
she  experienced  Religion.  She  sang  no  more  of  mornings, 
and  the  making  of  molasses  candy  was  suspended  in  the 
evenings.  I  thought  her  less  pleasing,  and  felt  shy  of  hold 
ing  ordinary  conversations  with  her,  for  had  she  not  been 
set  apart  for  a  mysterious  work  ?  I  perceived  that  when 
she  sewed  between  meetings  her  work  was  worse  done  than 
ever ;  but  grand'ther  made  no  mention  of  it.  I  went  with 
Aunt  Mercy  to  meetings  three  times  a  day,  and  employed 
myself  in  scanning  the  countenances  around  me,  curious  to 
discover  the  first  symptoms  of  Conviction. 

One  night  when  grand'ther  came  in  to  prayers,  he  told 
Aunt  Mercy  that  Pardon  Hitch  was  awfully  distressed  in 
mind,  in  view  of  his  sins.  She  replied  that  he  was  always 
a  good  man. 

"As  good  as  any  unregenerate  man  can  be." 

"  I  might  as  well  be  a  thorough  reprobate  then,"  I  thought, 
"  like  Sal  Thompson,  who  seems  remarkably  happy,  as  to 
try  to  behave  as  well  as  Pardon  Hitch,  who  is  a  model  in 
Barmouth." 

When  we  went  to  church  the  next  morning,  I  saw  him  in 
one  of  the  back  pews,  leaning  against  the  rail,  as  if  he  had 
no  strength.  His  face  was  full  of  anguish.  He  sat  there 
motionless  all  day.  He  was  prayed  for,  but  did  not  seem 
to  hear  the  prayers.  At  night  his  wife  led  him  home.  By 
the  end  of  the  third  day,  he  interrupted  an  exhorting 
brother  by  rising,  and  uttering  an  inarticulate  cry.  We  all 
looked.  The  tears  were  streaming  down  his  pale  face, 


48  THE  MORGESONS. 

which  was  lighted  up  by  a  smile  of  joy.  He  seemed  like  a 
man  escaped  from  some  great  danger,  torn,  bruised,  breath 
less,  but  alive.  The  minister  left  the  pulpit  to  shake  hands 
with  him ;  the  brethren  crowded  round  to  congratulate 
him,  and  the  meeting  broke  up  at  once. 

Neither  grand'ther  nor  Aunt  Mercy  had  spoken  to  me 
concerning  my  interest  in  Religion  ;  but  on  that  very  even 
ing  Mr.  Boold,  the  minister,  came  in  to  tea  and  asked  me, 
while  he  was  taking  off  his  overcoat,  if  I  knew  that  Christ 
had  died  for  me  ?     I  answered  that  I  was  not  sure  of  it. 
Do  you  read  your  Bible,  child  ? " 
Every  day." 

And  what  does  it  teach  you  ?  " 
I  do  not  know." 

Miss  Mercy,  I  will  thank  you  for  another  cup.  '  Now 
is  the  day,  and  now  is  the  hour  ;  come  unto  me  all  ye  that 
labor  and  are  heavy  laden,  I  will  give  you  rest.'  " 

"  But  I  do  not  want  rest  ;  I  have  no  burden,"  I  said. 

"  Cassandra,"  thundered  grand'ther,  "  have  you  no  re 
spect  for  God  nor  man  ?  " 

"  Have  you  read,"  went  on  the  minister,  "  the  memoir  of 
Nathan  Dickerman  ?  A  mere  child,  he  realized  his  burden 
of  sin  in  time,  and  died  sanctified." 

I  thought  it  best  to  say  no  more.  Aunt  Mercy  looked 
disturbed,  and  left  the  table  as  soon  as  she  could  with 
decency. 

"  Cassandra,"  she  said,  when  we  were  alone,  "  what  will 
become  of  you  ?  " 

"  What  will,  indeed  ?  You  have  always  said  that  I  was 
possessed.  Why  did  you  not  explain  this  fact  to  Mr. 
Boold  ? " 

She  kissed  me, — her  usual  treatment  when  she  was  per 
plexed. 

The  revival  culminated  and  declined.  Sixty  new  mem 
bers  were  admitted  into  the  church,  and  things  settled  into 
the  old  state.  School  was  resumed  ;  I  found  that  not  one 
of  my  schoolmates  had  met  with  a  change,  but  Miss  Black 
did  not  touch  on  the  topic.  My  year  was  nearly  out  ; 
March  had  come  and  gone,  and  it  was  now  April.  One 
mild  day,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  month,  the  girls  went  to 
the  yard  at  recess.  Charlotte  Alden  said  pleasantly  that  the 
weather  was  fair  enough  for  out-of-doors  play,  and  asked  if 


THE  MORGESONS.  49 

I  would  try  the  tilt.  I  gave  a  cordial  assent.  We  balanced 
the  board  so  that  each  could  seat  herself,  and  began  to 
tilt  slowly.  As  she  was  heavy,  I  was  obliged  to  exert  my 
strength  to  keep  my  place,  and  move  her.  She  asked  if  I 
dared  to  go  higher.  "Oh  yes,  if  you  wish  it."  Happening 
to  look  round,  I  caught  her  winking  at  the  girls  near  us, 
and  felt  that  she  was  brewing  mischief,  but  I  had  no  time 
to  dwell  on  it.  She  bore  the  end  she  was  on  to  the  ground 
with  a  sudden  jerk,  and  I  fell  from  the  other,  some  eight 
feet,  struck  a  stone,  and  fainted. 

The  next  thing  that  I  recollect  was  Aunt  Mercy's  carry 
ing  me  across  the  street  in  her  arms.  She  had  seen  my  fall 
from  the  window.  Reaching  the  house,  she  let  me  slide  on 
the  floor  in  a  heap,  and  began  to  wring  her  hands  and 
stamp  her  feet. 

"  I  am  not  hurt,  Aunt  Mercy." 

"  You  are  nearly  killed,  you  know  you  are.  This  is  your 
last  day  at  that  miserable  school.  I  am  going  for  the  doc 
tor,  as  soon  as  you  say  you  wont  faint  again." 

Thus  my  education  at  Miss  Black's  was  finished  with  a 
blow. 

When  Aunt  Mercy  represented  to  Miss  Black  that  I  was 
not  to  return  to  school,  and  that  she  feared  I  had  not  made 
the  improvement  that  was  expected,  Miss  Black  asked,  with 
hauteur,  what  had  been  expected — what  my  friends  could 
expect.  Aunt  Mercy  was  intimidated,  and  retired  as  soon 
as  she  had  paid  her  the  last  quarter's  bills. 

A  week  after  my  tournament  with  Charlotte  Alden  I  went 
back  to  Surrey.  There  was  little  preparation  to  make — few 
friends  to  bid  farewell.  Ruth  and  Sally  had  emerged  from 
their  farm,  and  were  sewing  again  at  grand'ther's.  Sally 
bade  me  remember  that  riches  took  to  themselves  wings 
and  flew  away  ;  she  hoped  they  had  not  been  a  snare  to  my 
mother  ;  but  she  wasn't  what  she  was,  it  was  a  fact. 

"  No,  she  isn't,"  Ruth  affirmed.  "  Do  you  remember, 
Sally,  when  she  came  out  to  the  farm  once,  and  rode  the 
white  colt  bare-back  round  the  big  meadow,  with  her  hair 
flying  ?  " 

"Hold  your  tongue,  Ruth." 

Ruth  looked  penitent  as  she  gave  me  a  paper  of  holly 
hock  seeds,  and  said  the  flowers  were  a  beautiful  blood-red, 
and  that  I  must  plant  them  near  the  sink  drain.  Caroline 


5°  THE  MORGESONS. 

had  already  gone  home,  so  Aunt  Mercy  had  nothing  cheery 
but  her  plants  and  her  snuff;  for  she  had  lately  contracted 
the  habit  of  snuff-taking  but  very  privately. 

"  Train  her  well,  Locke  ;  she  is  skittish,"  said  grand'ther 
as  we  got  into  the  chaise  to  go  home. 

"  Grand'ther,  if  I  am  ever  rich  enough  to  own  a  peaked- 
roof  pig-sty,  will  you  come  and  see  me  ? " 

"  Away  with  you."  And  he  went  nimbly  back  to  the 
house,  chafing  his  little  hands. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

I  was  going  home  !  When  we  rode  over  the  brow  of  the 
hill  within  a  mile  of  Surrey,  and  I  saw  the  crescent- 
shaped  village,  and  the  tall  chimneys  of  our  house  on 
its  outer  edge,  instead  of  my  heart  leaping  for  joy,  as  I  had 
expected,  a  sudden  indifference  filled  it.  I  felt  averse  to 
the  change  from  the  narrow  ways  of  Barmouth,  which,  for 
the  moment,  I  regretted.  When  I  entered  the  house,  and 
saw  mother  in  her  old  place,  her  surroundings  unaltered,  I 
suffered  a  disappointment.  I  had  not  had  the  power  of  trans 
ferring  the  atmosphere  of  my  year's  misery  to  Surrey. 

The  family  gathered  round  me.  I  heard  the  wonted 
sound  of  the  banging  of  doors.  "  The  doors  at  grand- 
'ther's,"  I  mused,  "  had  list  nailed  round  their  edges  ;  but 
then  he  ^z^the  list,  being  a  tailor." 

"I  vum,"  said  Temperance,  with  her  hand  on  her  hip, 
and  not  offering  to  approach  me,  "  your  hair  is  as  thick  as 
a  mop." 

Hepsey,  rubbing  her  fingers  against  her  thumb,  remarked 
that  she  hoped  learning  had  not  taken  away  my  appetite. 
"  I  have  made  an  Indian  bannock  for  you,  and  we  are  going 
to  have  broiled  sword-fish,  besides,  for  supper.  Is  it  best  to 
cook  more,  Mrs.  Morgeson,  now  that  Cassandra  has  come?" 

The  boy,  by  name  Charles,  came  to  see  the  new  arrival, 
but  smitten  with  diffidence  crept  under  the  table,  and  ex 
amined  me  from  his  retreat. 

"  Don't  you  wish  to  see  Arthur  ? "  inquired  mother ; 
"  he  is  getting  his  double  teeth." 

"  Oh  yes,  and  where's  Veronica  ?  " 


THE  MORGESONS.  51 

"  She's  up  garret  writing  geography,  and  told  me  nothing 
in  the  world  must  disturb  her,  till  she  had  finished  an  ac 
count  of  the  city  of  Palmiry,"  said  Temperance. 

"  Call  her  when  supper  is  ready,"  replied  mother,  who 
asked  me  to  come  into  the  bedroom  where  Arthur  was 
sleeping.  He  was  a  handsome  child,  large  and  fair,  and  as 
I  lifted  his  white,  lax  fingers,  a  torrent  of  love  swept  through 
me,  and  I  kissed  him. 

"  I  am  afraid  I  make  an  idol  of  him,  Cassy." 

"  Are  you  unhappy  because  you  love  him  so  well,  mother, 
and  feel  that  you  must  make  expiation  ?  " 

"  Cassandra,"  she  spoke  with  haste,  "  did  you  experience 
any  shadow  of  a  change  during  the  revival  at  Barmouth  ? " 

"  No  more  than  the  baby  here  did." 

"  I  shall  have  faith,  though,  that  it  will  be  well  with  you, 
because  you  have  had  the  blessing  of  so  good  a  man  as  your 
grand'ther." 

"  But  I  never  heard  a  word  of  grand'ther's  prayers.  Do 
you  remember  his  voice  ?  " 

A  smile  crept  into  her  blue  eye,  as  she  said  :  "  My  hear 
ing  him,  or  not,  would  make  no  difference,  since  God  could 
hear  and  answer." 

"  Grand'ther  does  not  like  me  ;  I  never  pleased  him." 

She  looked  astonished,  then  reflective.  It  occurred  to 
her  that  she,  also,  had  been  no  favorite  of  his.  She  changed 
the  subject.  We  talked  on  what  had  happened  in  Surrey, 
and  commenced  a  discussion  on  my  wardrobe,  when  we 
were  summoned  to  tea.  Temperance  brought  Arthur  to 
the  table  half  asleep,  but  he  roused  when  she  drummed  on 
his  plate  with  a  spoon.  Hepsey  was  stationed  by  the  ban 
nock,  knife  in  hand,  to  serve  it.  As  we  began  our  meal, 
Veronica  came  in  from  the  kitchen,  with  a  plate  of  toasted 
crackers.  She  set  the  plate  down,  and  gravely  shook  hands 
with  me,  saying  she  had  concluded  to  live  entirely  on  toast, 
but  supposed  I  would  eat  all  sorts  of  food,  as  usual.  She 
had  grown  tall  ;  her  face  was  still  long  and  narrow,  but 
prettier,  and  her  large,  dark  eyes  had  a  slight  cast,  which  gave 
her  face  an  indescribable  expression.  Distant,  indifferent, 
and  speculative  as  the  eyes  were,  a  ray  of  fire  shot  into 
them  occasionally,  which  made  her  gaze  powerful  and  con 
centrated.  I  was  within  a  month  of  sixteen,  and  Veronica 
was  in  her  thirteenth  year  ;  but  she  looked  as  old  as  I  did. 


52  THE  MORGESONS. 

She  carefully  prepared  her  toast  with  milk  and  butter,  and 
ate  it  in  silence.  The  plenty  around  me,  the  ease  and  in 
dependence,  gave  me  a  delightful  sense  of  comfort.  The 
dishes  were  odd,  some  of  china,  some  of  delf,  and  were  con 
tinually  moved  out  of  their  places,  for  we  helped  ourselves, 
although  Temperance  stayed  in  the  room,  ostensibly  as  a 
waiter.  She  was  too  much  engaged  in  conversation  to  fulfill 
her  duties  that  way.  I  looked  round  the  room  ;  nothing 
had  been  added  to  it,  except  red  damask  curtains,  which 
were  out  of  keeping  with  the  old  chintz  covers.  It  was  a 
delightful  room,  however  ;  the  blue  sea  glimmered  between 
the  curtains,  and,  turning  my  eyes  toward  it,  my  heart  gave 
the  leap  which  I  had  looked  for.  I  grew  blithe  as  I  saw  it 
winking  under  the  rays  of  the  afternoon  sun,  and,  clapping 
my  hands,  said  I  was  glad  to  get  home.  We  left  Veronica 
at  the  table,  and  mother  resumed  her  conversation  with  me 
in  a  corner  of  the  room.  Presently  Temperance  came  in 
with  Charles,  bringing  fresh  plates.  As  soon  as  they  began 
their  supper,  Veronica  asked  Temperance  how  the  fish  tasted. 

"Is  it  salt?" 

"  Middling." 

"  How  is  the  bannock  ?  " 

"  Excellent.  I  will  say  it  for  Hepsey  that  she  hasn't  her 
beat  as  a  cook  ;  been  at  it  long  enough,"  she  added,  in  ex 
piation  of  her  praise. 

"  Temperance,  is  that  pound  cake,  or  sponge  ?" 

"  Pound." 

"  Charles  can  eat  it,"  Verry  said  with  a  sigh. 

"A  mighty  small  piece  he'll  have — the  glutton.  But  he 
has  not  been  here  long  ;  they  are  all  so  when  they  first 
come." 

She  then  gave  him  a  large  slice  of  the  cake. 

Veronica,  contrary  to  her  wont,  huddled  herself  on  the 
sofa.  Arthur  played  round  the  chair  of  mother,  who  looked 
happy  and  forgetful.  After  Temperance  had  rearranged 
the  table  for  father's  supper  we  were  quiet.  I  meditated 
how  I  could  best  amuse  myself,  where  I  should  go,  and 
what  I  should  do,  when  Veronica,  whom  I  had  forgotten, 
interrupted  my  thoughts. 

"  Mother,"  she  said,  "eating  toast  does  not  make  me  better- 
tempered  ;  I  feel  evil  still.  You  know,"  turning  to  me, 
that  my  temper  is  worse  than  ever  ;  it  is  like  a  tiger's." 


THE  MORGESONS.  53 

"  Oh,  Verry,"  said  mother,  "  not  quite  so  bad  ;  you  are 
too  hard  upon  yourself." 

"  Mother,  you  said  so  to  Hepsey,  when  I  tore  her  turban 
from  her  head,  it  was  so  ugly.  Can  you  forget  you  said 
such  a  thing  ?  " 

"  Verry,  you  drive  me  wild.  Must  I  say  that  I  was 
wrong  ?  Say  so  to  my  own  child  ?  " 

Verry  turned  her  face  to  the  wall  and  said  no  more  ;  but 
she  had  started  a  less  pleasant  train  of  thought.  It  was 
changed  again  by  Temperance  coming  with  lights. 
Though  the  tall  brass  lamps  glittered  like  gold,  their  circle 
of  light  was  small  ;  the  corners  of  the  room  were  obscure. 
Mr.  Park,  entering,  retreated  into  one,  and  mother  was 
obliged  to  forego  the  pleasure  of  undressing  Arthur ;  so  she 
sent  him  off  with  Temperance  and  Charles,  whose  duty  it 
was  to  rock  the  cradle  as  long  as  his  babyship  required. 

Soon  after  father  came,  and  Hepsey  brought  in  his  hot 
supper  ;  while  he  was  eating  it,  Grandfather  John  Morgeson 
bustled  in.  As  he  shook  hands  with  me,  I  saw  that  his  hair 
had  whitened  ;  he  held  a  tasseled  cane  between  his  knees, 
and  thumped  the  floor  whenever  he  asked  a  question.  Mr. 
Park  buzzed  about  the  last  Sunday's  discourse,  and  mother 
listened  with  a  vague,  respectful  attention.  Her  hand  was 
pressed  against  her  breast,  as  if  she  were  repressing  an  in 
ward  voice  which  claimed  her  attention.  Leaning  her  head 
against  her  chair,  she  had  quite  pushed  out  her  comb, 
her  hair  dropped  on  her  shoulder,  and  looked  like  a  brown, 
coiled  serpent.  Veronica,  who  had  been  silently  observing 
her,  rose  from  the  sofa,  picked  up  the  comb,  and  fastened 
her  hair,  without  speaking.  As  she  passed  she  gave  me  a 
dark  look. 

"  Eh,  Verry,"  said  father,  "  are  you  there  ?  Were  you 
glad  to  see  Cassy  home  again  ? " 

"  Should  1  be  glad  ?    What  can  she  do  ?  " 

Grandfather  pursed  up  his  mouth,  and  turned  toward 
mother,  as  if  he  would  like  to  say  :  "  You  understand  bring 
ing  up  children,  don't  you  ?  " 

She  comprehended  him,  and,  giving  her  head  a  slight  toss, 
told  Verry  to  go  and  play  on  the  piano. 

"  I  was  going,"  she  answered  pettishly,  and  darting  out  a 
moment  after  we  heard  her. 

Grandfather  went,  and  presently  Mr.  Park  got  up  in  a 


54  THE  MORGESONS. 

lingering  way,  said  that  Verry  must  learn  to  play  for  the 
Lord,  and  bade  us  "  Good  night."  But  he  came  back 
again,  to  ask  me  if  I  would  join  Dr.  Snail's  Bible  Class. 
It  would  meet  the  next  evening  ;  the  boys  and  girls  of  my 
own  age  went.  I  promised  him  to  go,  wondering  whether 
I  should  meet  an  ancient  beau,  Joe  Bacon.  Mother  retired  ; 
Verry  still  played. 

"  Her  talent  is  wonderful,"  said  father,  taking  the  cigar 
from  his  mouth.  "  By  the  way,  you  must  take  lessons  in 
Milford  ;  I  wish  you  would  learn  to  sing."  I  acquiesced, 
but  I  had  no  wish  to  learn  to  play.  I  could  never  perform 
mechanically  what  I  heard  now  from  Verry.  When  she 
ceased,  I  woke  from  a  dream,  chaotic,  but  not  tumultuous, 
beautiful,  but  inharmonious.  Though  the  fire  had  gone  out, 
the  lamps  winked  brightly,  and  father,  moving  his  cigar  to  the 
other  side  of  his  mouth,  changed  his  regards  from  one  lamp 
to  the  other,  and  said  he  thought  I  was  growing  to  be  an 
attractive  girl.  He  asked  me  if  I  would  take  pains  to  make 
myself  an  accomplished  one  also  ?  I  must,  of  course,  be 
left  to  myself  in  many  things  ;  but  he  hoped  that  I  would  con 
fide  in  him,  if  I  did  not  ask  his  advice.  A  very  strong  rela- 
lation  of  reserve  generally  existed  between  parent  and  child, 
instead  of  a  confidential  one,  and  the  child  was  apt  to  dis 
cover  that  reserve  on  the  part  of  the  parent  was  not  supe 
riority,  but  cowardice,  or  indifference.  "  Let  it  not  be  so 
with  us,"  was  his  conclusion.  He  threw  away  the  stump 
of  his  cigar,  and  went  to  fasten  the  hall-door.  I  took  one 
of  the  brass  lamps,  proposing  to  go  to  bed.  As  I  passed 
through  the  upper  entry,  Veronica  opened  her  door.  She 
was  undressed,  and  had  a  little  book  in  her  hand,  which  she 
shook  at  me,  saying,  "  There  is  the  day  of  the  month  put 
down  on  which  you  came  home  ;  and  now  mind,"  then 
shut  the  door.  I  pondered  over  what  father  had  said  ; 
he  had  perceived  something  in  me  which  I  was  not  aware 
of.  I  resolved  to  think  seriously  over  it ;  in  the  morning 
I  found  I  had  not  thought  of  it  at  all. 


THE  MORGESONS.  55 


CHAPTER    XII. 

next  evening  I  dressed  my  hair  after  the  fashion  of 
the  Barmouth  girls,  with  the  small  pride  of  wishing  to 
make  myself  look  different  from  the  Surrey  girls.  I 
expected  they  would  stare  at  me  in  the  Bible  Class.  It 
would  be  my  debut  as  a  grown  girl,  and  I  must  offer  myself 
to  their  criticism.  I  went  late,  so  that  I  might  be  observed 
by  the  assembled  class.  It  met  in  the  upper  story  of  Tem 
perance  Hall — a  new  edifice.  As  I  climbed  the  steep  stairs, 
Joe  Bacon's  head  came  in  view  ;  he  had  stationed  himself 
on  a  bench  at  the  landing  to  watch  for  my  arrival,  of  which 
he  had  been  apprized  by  our  satellite,  Charles.  Joe  was  the 
first  boy  who  had  ever  offered  his  arm  as  my  escort  home 
from  a  party.  After  that  event  I  had  felt  that  there  was 
something  between  us  which  the  world  did  not  understand. 
I  was  flattered,  therefore,  at  the  first  glimpse  of  him  on  this 
occasion.  When  Dr.  Snell  made  his  opening  prayer,  Joe 
thrust  a  Bible  before  me,  open  at  the  lesson  of  the  evening, 
and  then,  rubbing  his  nose  with  embarrassment,  fixed  his 
eyes  with  timid  assurance  on  the  opposite  wall.  Several 
of  my  Morgeson  cousins  were  present,  greeting  me  with 
sniffs.  But  I  was  disappointed  in  Joe  Bacon  ;  how  young 
and  shabby  he  looked  !  He  wore  a  monkey  jacket,  probably 
a  remnant  of  his  sea-going  father's  wardrobe.  He  had  done 
his  best,  however,  for  his  hair  was  greased,  and  combed  to 
a  marble  smoothness ;  its  sleekness  vexed  me,  not  re 
membering  at  that  moment  the  pains  I  had  taken  to  dress 
my  own  hair,  for  a  more  ignoble  end. 

The  girls  gathered  round  me,  after  the  class  was  dis 
missed  ;  and  when  Dr.  Snell  came  down  from  his  desk,  he 
said  he  was  glad  to  see  me,  and  that  I  must  come  to  his 
rooms  to  look  over  the  new  books  he  had  received.  Dr. 
Snell  was  no  exception  to  the  rule  that  a  minister  must  not 
be  a  native  among  his  own  people.  His  long  residence  in 
Surrey  had  failed  to  make  him  appear  like  one.  A  bache 
lor,  with  a  small  private  fortune,  his  style  of  living  differed 
from  the  average  of  Congregational  parsons.  His  library 
was  the  only  lion  in  our  neighborhood.  His  taste  as  a  col 
lector  made  him  known  abroad,  and  he  had  a  reputation 
which  was  not  dreamed  of  by  his  parishioners,  who  thought 


56  THE  MORGESONS. 

him  queer  and  simple.  He  loved  old  fashions  ;  wore  knee- 
breeches,  and  silver  buckles  in  his  shoes  ;  brewed  metheg- 
lin  in  his  closet,  and  drank  it  from  silver-pegged  flagons  ; 
and  kept  diet  bread  on  a  salver  to  offer  his  visitors.  He 
lived  near  us  on  the  north  road,  and  was  very  much  afraid 
of  his  landlady,  Mrs.  Grossman,  who  sat  in  terrible  state  in 
her  parlor,  the  year  through,  wearing  a  black  satin  cloak 
and  an  awful  structure  of  a  cap,  which  had  a  potent  nod. 

I  was  pleased  with  Dr.  Snell's  notice  ;  his  smile  was 
courtly  and  his  bow  Grandisonian. 

Joe  Bacon  was  waiting  at  the  foot  of  the  stairs.  He  ob 
truded  his  arm,  and  hoarsely  muttered,  "  See  you  home." 
I  took  it,  and  we  marched  along  silently,  till  we  were  beyond 
the  sound  of  voices.  He  began,  rather  inarticulately,  to  say 
how  glad  he  was  to  see  me,  and  that  he  hoped  he  was  going 
to  have  better  times  now  ;  but  I  could  make  no  response 
to  his  wishes  ;  the  suspicion  that  he  had  a  serious  liking  for 
me  was  disgusting.  As  he  talked  on  I  grew  irritable, 
and  replied  shortly.  When  we  reached  our  house,  I  slipped 
my  hand  from  his  arm,  and  ran  up  the  steps,  turning  back 
with  my  hand  on  the  door-knob  to  say,  "  Good-night."  The 
lamp  in  the  hall  shone  through  the  fanlight  upon  his  face  ; 
it  looked  intelligent  with  pain.  I  skipped  down  the  steps. 
"  Please  open  the  door,  Joe."  He  brightened,  but  be 
fore  he  could  comply  with  my  request  Temperance  flung  it 
wide,  for  the  purpose  of  making  a  survey  of  the  clouds  and 
guessing  at  to-morrow's  weather.  His  retreat  was  pre 
cipitate. 

"  Oh  ho,"  said  Temperance,  "  a  feller  came  home  with 
you.  We  shall  have  somebody  sitting  up  a-Thursday  nights, 
I  reckon,  before  long." 

"  Nonsense  with  your  Thursday  nights." 

"  Everybody  is  just  alike.  We  shall  have  rain,  see  if  we 
don't ;  rain  or  no  rain,  I'll  whitewash  to-morrow." 

Poor  Joe  !  That  night  ended  my  first  sentiment.  He 
died  with  the  measles  in  less  than  a  month. 

"  I  wish,"  said  Temperance,  who  was  spelling  over  a 
newspaper,  "  that  Dr.  Snell  would  come  in  before  the  plum- 
cake  is  gone,  that  Hepsey  made  last.  The  old  dear  loves 
it ;  he  is  always  hungry.  I  candidly  believe  Mis  Grossman 
keeps  him  short." 

I  expected  that  Temperance  would  break  out  then  about 


THE  MORGESONS.  57 

Joe  ;  but  she  never  mentioned  him,  except  to  tell  me  that  she 
had  heard  of  his  death.  She  did  not  whitewash  the  next  day, 
for  Charles  came  down  with  the  measles,  and  was  tended  by 
her  with  a  fretful  tenderness.  Veronica  was  seized  soon 
after,  and  then  Arthur,  and  then  I  had  them.  Veronica  was 
the  worst  patient.  When  her  room  was  darkened  she  got 
out  of  bed,  tore  down  the  quilt  that  was  fastened  to  the 
window,  and  broke  three  panes  of  glass  before  she  could 
be  captured  and  taken  back.  The  quilt  was  not  put  up 
again,  however.  She  cried  with  anger,  unless  her  hands 
were  continually  washed  with  lavender  water,  and  made 
little  pellets  of  cotton  which  she  stuffed  in  her  ears  and 
nose,  so  that  she  might  not  hear  or  smell. 

I  went  to  Dr.  Snell's  as  soon  as  I  was  able.  He  was  in 
his  bedchamber,  writing  a  sermon  on  fine  note-paper,  and 
had  disarranged  the  wide  ruffles  of  his  shirt  so  that  he 
looked  like  a  mildly  angry  turkey.  Thrusting  his  spectacles 
up  into  the  roots  of  his  hair,  he  rose,  and  led  me  into  a 
large  room  adjoining  his  bedroom,  which  contained  nothing 
but  tall  bookcases,  threw  open  the  doors  of  one,  pushed  up 
a  little  ladder  before  it,  for  me  to  mount  to  a  row  of  vol 
umes  bound  in  calf,  whose  backs  were  labeled  "  British 
Classics."  "There,"  he  said,  "you  will  find  '  The  Spec 
tator,'  "  and  trotted  back  to  his  sermon,  with  his  pen  in  his 
mouth.  I  examined  the  books,  and  selected  Tom  Jones 
and  Goldsmith's  Plays  to  take  home.  From  that  time  I 
grazed  at  pleasure  in  his  oddly  assorted  library,  ranging 
from  "  The  Gentleman's  Magazine  "  to  a  file  of  the  "  Bos 
ton  Recorder";  but  never  a  volume  of  poetry  anywhere. 
I  became  a  devourer  of  books  which  I  could  not  digest,  and 
their  influence  located  in  my  mind  curious  and  inconsistent 
relations  between  facts  and  ideas. 

My  music  lessons  in  Milford  were  my  only  task.  I  re 
mained  inapt,  while  Veronica  played  better  and  better  ; 
when  I  saw  her  fingers  interpreting  her  feelings,  touching 
the  keys  of  the  piano  as  if  they  were  the  chords  of  her 
thoughts,  practice  by  note  seemed  a  soulless,  mechanical 
effort,  which  I  would  not  make.  One  day  mother  and  I 
were  reading  the  separate  volumes  of  charming  Miss  Austen's 
"  Mansfield  Park,"  when  a  message  arrived  from  Aunt 
Mercy,  with  the  news  of  Grand'ther  Warren's  dangerous  ill 
ness.  Mother  dropped  her  book  on  the  floor,  but  I  turned 


58  THE  MORGESONS. 

down  the  leaf  where  I  was  reading.  She  went  to  Barmouth 
immediately,  and  the  next  day  grand'ther  died.  He  gave 
all  he  had  to  Aunt  Mercy,  except  six  silver  spoons,  which 
he  directed  the  Barmouth  silversmith  to  make  for  Caroline, 
who  was  now  married  to  her  missionary.  Mother  came 
home  to  prepare  for  the  funeral.  When  the  bonnets,  veils, 
and  black  gloves  came  home,  Veronica  declared  she  would  not 
go.  As  she  had  been  allowed  to  stay  away  from  Grand'ther 
Warren  living,  why  should  she  be  forced  to  go  to  him  when 
dead  ?  She  was  so  violent  in  her  opposition  that  mother 
ordered  Temperance  to  keep  her  in  her  room.  Father  tried 
to  persuade  her,  but  she  grew  white,  and  trembled  so  that 
he  told  her  she  should  stay  at  home.  While  we  were  gone 
she  sent  her  bonnet  to  the  Widow  Smith's  daughter,  who 
appeared  in  the  Poor  Seats  wearing  it,  on  the  very  Sunday 
after  the  funeral,  when  we  all  went  to  church  in  our  mourn 
ing  to  make  the  discovery,  which  discomposed  us  exceed 
ingly. 

All  the  church  were  present  at  grand'ther's  funeral, — ob 
sequies,  as  Mr.  Boold  called  it,  who  exalted  his  character 
and  behavior  so  greatly  in  his  discourse  that  his  nearest 
friends  would  not  have  recognized  him,  although  every 
body  knew  that  he  was  a  good  man.  Mr.  Boold  expatiated 
on  his  tenderness  and  delicate  appreciation,  and  his  study 
of  the  feelings  and  wants  of  others,  till  he  was  moved  to 
tears  himself  by  the  picture  he  drew.  I  thought  of  the 
pigeons  he  had  shot,  and  of  the  summary  treatment  he  gave 
me — of  his  coldness  and  silence  toward  Aunt  Mercy,  and 
my  eyes  remained  dry  ;  but  mother  and  Aunt  Mercy  wept 
bitterly.  After  it  was  over,  and  they  had  gone  back  to  the 
empty  house,  they  removed  their  heavy  bonnets,  kissed 
each  other,  said  they  knew  that  he  was  in  heaven,  and  held 
a  comforting  conversation  about  the  future  ;  but  my  mind 
was  chained  to  the  edge  of  the  yawning  grave  into  which  I 
had  seen  his  coffin  lowered. 

"  Shut  up  the  old  shell,  Mercy,"  said  father.  "  Come, 
and  live  with  us." 

She  was  rejoiced  at  the  prospect,  for  the  life  at  our  house 
was  congenial,  and  she  readily  and  gratefully  consented. 
She  came  in  a  few  days,  with  a  multitude  of  boxes,  and  her 
plants.  Mother  established  her  in  the  room  next  the  stairs — 
a  good  place  for  her,  Veronica  said,  for  she  could  be  easily 


THE  MORGESONS.  59 

locked  out  of  our  premises.  The  plants  were  placed  on  a 
new  revolving  stand,  which  stood  on  the  landing-place  be 
neath  the  stair  window.  Veronica  was  so  delighted  with 
them  that  she  made  amicable  overtures  to  Aunt  Mercy, 
and  never  quarreled  with  her  afterward,  except  when  she 
was  ill.  She  entreated  her  to  leave  off  her  bombazine 
dresses ;  the  touch  of  them  interfered  with  her  feelings  for 
her,  she  said ;  in  fact,  their  contact  made  her  crawl  all 
over. 

Aunt  Mercy  took  upon  herself  many  of  mother's  irksome 
cares  ;  such  as  remembering  where  the  patches  and  old 
linen  were — the  hammer  and  nails  ;  watching  the  sweet 
meat  pots  ;  keeping  the  run  of  the  napkins  and  blankets  ; 
packing  the  winter  clothing,  and  having  an  eye  on  mice 
and  ants,  moth  and  mold.  Occasionally  she  read  a  novel ; 
but  was  faithful  to  all  the  week-day  meetings,  making  the 
acquaintance  thereby  of  mother's  tea-drinking  friends,  who 
considered  her  an  accomplished  person,  because  she  worked 
lace  so  beautifully,  and  had  such  a  faculty  for  raising  plants  ! 
Mother  left  the  house  in  her  charge,  and  made  several 
journeys  with  father  this  year.  This  period  was  perhaps 
her  happiest.  The  only  annoyance,  visible  to  me,  that  I 
can  remember,  was  one  between  her  and  father  on  the  sub 
ject  of  charity.  He  was  for  giving  to  all  needy  persons, 
while  she  only  desired  to  bestow  it  on  the  deserving,  but 
they  had  renounced  the  wish  of  manufacturing  each  other's 
habits  and  opinions.  Whether  mother  ever  desired  the  ex 
pression  of  that  exaltation  of  feeling  which  only  lasts  in  a 
man  while  he  is  in  love,  I  cannot  say.  It  was  not  for  me 
to  know  her  heart.  It  is  not  ordained  that  these  beautiful 
secrets  of  feeling  should  be  revealed,  where  they  might 
prove  to  be  the  sweetest  knowledge  we  could  have. 

Though  the  days  flew  by,  days  filled  with  the  busy 
nothings  of  prosperity,  they  bore  no  meaning.  I  shifted 
the  hours,  as  one  shifts  the  kaleidoscope,  with  an  eye  only 
to  their  movement.  Neither  the  remembrance  of  yesterday 
nor  the  hope  of  to-morrow  stimulated  me.  The  mere  fact 
of  breathing  had  ceased  to  be  a  happiness,  since  the  day  I 
entered  Miss  Black's  school.  But  I  was  not  yet  thoughtful. 
As  for  my  position,  I  was  loved  and  I  was  hated,  and  it 
pleased  me  as  much  to  be  hated  as  to  be  loved.  My  ac 
quaintances  were  kind  enough  to  let  me  know  that  I  was 


60  THE  MORGESONS. 

generally  thought  proud,  exacting,  ill-natured,  and  apt  to 
expect  the  best  of  everything.  But  one  thing  I  know  of  my 
self  then — that  I  concealed  nothing  ;  the  desires  and  emo 
tions  which  are  usually  kept  as  a  private  fund  I  displayed 
and  exhausted.  My  audacity  shocked  those  who  possessed 
this  fund.  My  candor  was  called  anything  but  truthful 
ness  ;  they  named  it  sarcasm,  cunning,  coarseness,  or  tact, 
as  those  were  constituted  who  came  in  contact  with  me. 
Insight  into  character,  frankness,  generosity,  disinterested 
ness,  were  sometimes  given  me.  Veronica  alone  was  un 
compromising  ;  she  put  aside  by  instinct  what  baffled  or 
attracted  others,  and,  setting  my  real  value  upon  me,  acted 
accordingly.  I  do  not  accuse  her  of  injustice,  but  of  a 
fierce  harshness  which  kept  us  apart  for  long  years.  As 
for  her,  she  was  the  most  reticent  girl  I  ever  knew,  and  but 
for  her  explosive  temper,  which  betrayed  her,  she  would 
have  been  a  mystery.  The  difference  in  our  physical  con 
stitutions  would  have  separated  us,  if  there  had  been  no 
other  cause.  The  weeks  that  she  was  confined  to  her  room, 
preyed  upon  by  some  inscrutable  disease,  were  weeks  of 
darkness  and  solitude.  Temperance  and  Aunt  Merce  took 
as  much  care  of  her  as  she  would  allow  ;  but  she  preferred 
being  alone  most  of  the  time.  Thus  she  acquired  the  forti 
tude  of  an  Indian  ;  pain  could  extort  no  groan  from  her. 
It  reacted  on  her  temper,  though,  for  after  an  attack  she 
was  exasperating.  Her  invention  was  put  to  the  rack  to 
tease  and  offend.  I  kept  out  of  her  way  ;  if  by  chance  she 
caught  sight  of  me,  she  forced  me  to  hear  the  bitter  truth 
of  myself.  Sometimes  she  examined  me  to  learn  if  I  had 
improved  by  the  means  which  father  so  generously  provided 
for  me.  "  Is  he  not  yet  tired  of  his  task  ? "  she  asked  once. 
And,  "  Do  you  carry  everything  before  you,  with  your  wide 
eyebrows  and  sharp  teeth  ?  Temperance,  where's  the 
Buffon  Dr.  Snell  sent  me  ?  I  want  to  classify  Cass." 

"  I'll  warrant  you'll  find  her  a  sheep,"  Temperance  re 
plied. 

4<  Sheep  are  innocent,"  said  Veronica.  "  You  may  go," 
nodding  to  me,  over  the  book,  and  Temperance  also  made 
energetic  signs  to  me  to  go,  and  not  bother  the  poor  girl. 

Always  regarding  her  from  the  point  of  view  she  pre 
sented,  I  felt  little  love  for  her  ;  her  peculiarities  offended 
me  as  they  did  mother.  We  did  not  perceive  the  process, 


THE  MORGESONS.  6 1 

but  Verry  was  educated  by  sickness ;  her  mind  fed  and 
grew  on  pain,  and  at  last  mastered  it.  The  darkness  in 
her  nature  broke ;  by  slow  degrees  she  gained  health, 
though  never  much  strength.  Upon  each  recovery  a  change 
was  visible  ;  a  spiritual  dawn  had  risen  in  her  soul ;  moral 
activity  blending  with  her  ideality  made  her  life  beautiful, 
even  in  the  humblest  sense.  Veronica  !  you  were  endowed 
with  genius  ;  but  while  its  rays  penetrated  you,  we  did  not 
see  them.  How  could  we  profit  by  what  you  saw  and 
heard,  when  we  were  blind  and  deaf  ?  To  us,  the  voices 
of  the  deep  sang  no  epic  of  grief  ;  the  speech  of  the  woods 
was  not  articulate  ;  the  sea-gull's  flashing  flight,  and  the 
dark  swallow's  circling  sweep,  were  facts  only.  Sunrise  and 
sunset  were  not  a  paean  to  day  and  night,  but  five  o'clock 
A.M.  or  P.M.  The  seasons  that  came  and  went  were  changes 
from  hot  to  cold  ;  to  you,  they  were  the  moods  of  nature, 
which  found  response  in  those  of  your  own  life  and  soul ; 
her  storms  and  calms  were  pulses  which  bore  a  similitude 
to  the  emotions  of  your  heart ! 

Veronica's  habits  of  isolation  clung  to  her  ;  she  would 
never  leave  home.  The  teaching  she  had  was  obtained  in 
Surrey.  But  her  knowledge  was  greater  than  mine.  When 
I  went  to  Rosville  she  was  reading  "  Paradise  Lost,"  and 
writing  her  opinions  upon  it  in  a  large  blank  book.  She 
was  also  devising  a  plan  for  raising  trees  and  flowers  in  the 
garret,  so  that  she  might  realize  a  picture  of  a  tropical 
wilderness.  Her  tastes  were  so  contradictory  that  time 
never  hung  heavy  with  her  ;  though  she  had  as  little  prac 
tical  talent  as  any  person  I  ever  knew,  she  was  a  help  to 
both  sick  and  well.  She  remembered  people's  ill  turns, 
and  what  was  done  for  them  ;  and  for  the  well  she  remem 
bered  dates  and  suggested  agreeable  occupations — gave 
them  happy  ideas.  Besides  being  a  calendar  of  domestic 
traditions,  she  was  weather-wise,  and  prognosticated  gales, 
meteors,  high  tides,  and  rains. 

Home,  father  said,  was  her  sphere.  All  that  she  required, 
he  thought  he  could  do  ;  byt  of  me  he  was  doubtful. 
Where  did  I  belong  ?  he  asked. 

I  was  still  "  possessed,"  Aunt  Merce  said,  and  mother 
called  me  "lawless."  "What  upon  earth  are  you  coming 
to?"  asked  Temperance.  "You  are  sowing  your  wild 
oats  with  a  vengeance." 


62  THE  MORGESONS. 

"  Locke  Morgeson's  daughter  can  do  anything,"  com" 
mented  the  villagers.  In  consequence  of  the  unlimited 
power  accorded  me  I  was  unpopular.  "  Do  you  think  she 
is  handsome  ?"  inquired  my  friends  of  each  other.  "In 
what  respect  can  she  be  called  a  beauty?  "  "  Though  she 
reads,  she  has  no  great  wit,"  said  one.  "  She  dresses  oddly 
for  effect,"  another  avowed,  "  and  her  manners  are  ridicu 
lous."  But  they  borrowed  my  dresses  for  patterns,  imitated 
my  bonnets,  and  adopted  my  colors.  When  I  learned  to 
manage  a  sailboat,  they  had  an  aquatic  mania.  When  I 
learned  to  ride  a  horse,  the  ancient  and  moth-eaten  side 
saddles  of  the  town  were  resuscitated,  and  old  family  nags 
were  made  back-sore  with  the  wearing  of  them,  and  their 
youthful  spirits  revived  by  new  beginners  sliding  about  on 
their  rounded  sides.  My  whims  were  sneered  at,  and  then 
followed.  Of  course  I  was  driven  from  whim  to  whim,  to 
keep  them  busy,  and  to  preserve  my  originality,  and  at  last 
I  became  eccentric  for  eccentricity's  sake.  All  this  pre 
pared  the  way  for  my  Nemesis.  But  as  yet  my  wild  oats 
were  green  and  flourishing  in  the  field  of  youth. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

I  WAS  preaching  one  day  to  mother  and  Aunt  Merce  a 
sermon  after  the  manner  of  Mr.  Boold,  of  Barmouth, 

taking  the  sofa  for  a  desk,  and  for  my  text  "  Like 
David's  Harp  of  solemn  sound,"  and  had  attracted  Tem 
perance  and  Charles  into  the  room  by  my  declamation,  when 
my  audience  was  unexpectedly  increased  by  the  entrance 
of  father,  with  a  strange  gentleman.  Aunt  Merce  laughed 
hysterically  ;  I  waved  my  hand  to  her,  a  la  Boold,  and  de 
scended  from  my  position. 

"  Take  a  chair,"  said  Temperance, who  was  never  abashed, 
thumping  one  down  before  the  stranger. 

"What  is  all  this  ?"  inquired  father. 

"  Only  a  Ranz  des  Vaches,  father,  to  please  Aunt  Merce." 

The  stranger's  eyes  were  fastened  upon  me,  while  father 
introduced  us  to  "  Mr.  Charles  Morgeson,  of  Rosville." 

"Please  receive  me  as  a  relative,"  he  said,  turning  to 
shake  hands  with  mother.  "  We  have  an  ancestor  in 


THE  MORGESONS.  63 

common  that  makes  a  sufficient  cousinship  for  a  claim,  Mrs. 
Morgeson." 

"  Why  not  have  looked  us  up  before  ? "  I  asked. 

"Why,"  said  Veronica,  who  had  just  come  in,  "  there  are 
six  Charles  Morgesons  buried  in  our  graveyard." 

"I  supposed,"  he  said,  "that  the  name  was  extinct.  I 
lately  saw  your  father's  in  a  State  Committee  List,  and 
feeling  curious  regarding  it,  I  came  here." 

He  bowed  distantly  to  Veronica  when  she  entered,  but 
she  did  not  return  his  bow,  though  she  looked  at  him  fix 
edly.  Temperance  and  Hepsey  hurried  up  a  fine  supper 
immediately.  A  visitor  was  a  creature  to  be  fed.  Feeding 
together  removes  embarrassment,  and  before  supper  was 
over  we  were  all  acquainted  with  Mr.  Morgeson.  There 
were  three  cheerful  old  ladies  spending  the  week  with  us — 
the  widow  Desire  Carver,  and  her  two  maiden  sisters,  Polly 
and  Serepta  Chandler.  They  filled  the  part  of  chorus  in 
the  domestic  drama,  saying,  "Aha,"  whenever  there  was  a 
pause.  Veronica  affected  these  old  ladies  greatly,  and 
when  they  were  in  the  house  gave  them  her  society.  But 
for  their  being  there  at  this  time,  I  doubt  whether  she 
would  have  seen  Mr.  Morgeson  again.  That  evening  she 
played  for  them.  Her  wild,  pathetic  melodies  made  our 
visitor's  gray  eyes  flash  with  pleasure,  and  light  up  his  cold 
face  with  gleams  of  feeling ;  but  she  was  not  gratified  by  his 
interest.  "I  think  it  strange  that  you  should  like  my 
music,"  she  said  crossly. 

"  Do  you  "  he  answered,  amused  at  her  tone,  "  perhaps 
it  is  ;  but  why  should  I  not  as  well  as  your  friends  here  ?" 
indicating  the  old  ladies. 

"Ah,  we  like  it  very  much,"  said  the  three,  clicking  their 
snuff-boxes. 

"  You,  too,  play  ? "  he  asked  me. 

"  Miss  Gassy  don't  play,"  answered  the  three,  looking  at 
me  over  their  spectacles.  "  Miss  Verry's  sun  puts  out 
her  fire." 

"  Cassandra  does  other  things  better  than  playing," 
Veronica  said  to  Mr.  Morgeson. 

"  Why,  Veronica,"  I  said,  surprised,  going  toward  her. 

"  Go  off,  go  off,"  she  replied,  in  an  undertone,  and  struck 
up  a  loud  march.  He  had  heard  her,  and  while  she  played 
looked  at  her  earnestly.  Then,  seeming  to  forget  the  pres- 


64  THE   MOKGESONS. 

ence  of  the  three,  he  turned  and  put  out  his  hand  to  me, 
with  an  authority  I  did  not  resist.  I  laid  my  hand  in  his  ; 
it  was  not  grasped,  but  upheld.  Veronica  immediately 
stopped  playing. 

He  stayed  several  days  at  our  house.  After  the  first 
evening  we  found  him  taciturn.  He  played  with  Arthur, 
spoke  of  his  children  to  him,  and  promised  him  a  pony  if 
he  would  goto  Rosville.  With  father  he  discussed  business 
matters,  and  went  out  with  him  to  the  shipyards  and  offices. 
I  scarcely  remember  that  he  spoke  to  me,  except  in  a  casual 
way,  more  than  once.  He  asked  me  if  I  knew  whether  the 
sea  had  any  influence  upon  me  ;  I  replied  that  I  had  not 
thought  of  it.  "  There  are  so  many  things  you  have  not 
thought  of,"  he  answered,  "  that  this  is  not  strange." 

Veronica  observed  him  closely  ;  he  was  aware  of  it,  but 
was  not  embarrassed  ;  he  met  her  dark  gaze  with  one 
keener  than  her  own,  and  neither  talked  with  the  other. 
The  morning  he  went  away,  while  the  chaise  was  waiting, 
which  was  to  go  to  Milford  to  meet  the  stagecoach,  and  he 
was  inviting  us  to  visit  him,  a  thought  seemed  to  strike 
him.  "  By  the  way,  Morgeson,  why  not  give  Miss  Cas 
sandra  a  finish  at  Rosville  ?  I  have  told  you  of  our  Acad 
emy,  and  of  the  advantages  which  Rosville  affords  in  the 
way  of  society.  What  do  you  say,  Mrs.  Morgeson,  will  you 
let  her  come  to  my  house  for  a  year  ?" 

"  Locke  decides  for  Gassy,"  she  answered  ;  "  I  never  do 
now,"  looking  at  me  reproachfully. 

Cousin  Charles's  hawk  eyes  caught  the  look,  and  he  heard 
me  too,  when  I  tapped  her  shoulder  till  she  turned  round 
and  smiled.  I  whispered,  "  Mother,  your  eyes  are  as  blue 
as  the  sea  yonder,  and  I  love  you."  She  glanced  toward  it  ; 
it  was  murmuring  softly,  creeping  along  the  shore,  licking 
the  rocks  and  sand  as  if  recognizing  a  master.  And  I 
saw  and  felt  its  steady,  resistless  heaving,  insidious  and 
terrible. 

"  Well,"  said  father,  "  we  will  talk  of  it  on  the  way  to 
Milford." 

"  I  have  kinder  of  a  creeping  about  your  Cousin  Charles, 
as  you  call  him,"  said  Temperance,  after  she  had  closed 
the  porch  door.  "'  He  is  too  much  shut  up  forme.  How's 
Mis  Cousin  Charles,  I  wonder  ?  " 

"  He  is   fond    of  flowers,"  remarked  Aunt  Merce  ;  "  he 


THE  MORGESONS.  6$ 

examined  all  my  plants,  and  knew  all  their  botanical 
names." 

"  That's  a  balm  for  every  wound  with  you,  isn't  it  ? " 
Temperance  said.  "  I  spose  I  can  clean  the  parlor,  un 
less  Mis  Carver  and  Chandler  are  sitting  in  a  row  there  ?  " 

Veronica,  who  had  hovered  between  the  parlor  and  the 
hall  while  Cousin  Charles  was  taking  his  leave,  so  that  she 
might  avoid  the  necessity  of  any  direct  notice  of  him,  had 
heard  his  proposition  about  Rosville,  said,  "Cassandra  will 
go  there." 

"  Do  you  feel  it  in  your  bones,  Verry  ?  "  Temperance 
asked. 

"  Cassandra  does." 

"  Do  I  ?     I  believe  I  do." 

"  You  are  eighteen  ;  you  are  too  old  to  go  to  school." 

"  But  I  am  not  too  old  to  have  an  agreeable  time  ; 
besides,  I  am  not  eighteen,  and  shall  not  be  till  four  days 
from  now." 

"  You  think  too  much  of  having  a  good  time,  Cassandra," 
said  mother.  "  I  foresee  the  day  when  the  pitcher  will  come 
back  from  the  well  broken.  You  are  idle  and  frivolous  ; 
eternally  chasing  after  amusement." 

"  God  knows  I  don't  find  it." 

"I  know  you  are  not  happy." 

"  Tell  me,"  I  cried,  striking  the  table  with  my  hand, 
making  Veronica  wink,  "  tell  me  how  to  feel  and  act." 

"  I  have  no  influence  with  you,  nor  with  Veronica." 

"Because,"  said  Verry,  "we  are  all  so  different  ;  but  I 
like  you,  mother,  and  all  that  you  do." 

"  Different !  "  she  exclaimed,  "  children  talk  to  parents 
about  a  difference  between  them." 

"  I  never  thought  about  it  before."  I  said,  "  but  where  is 
the  family  likeness?" 

Aunt  Merce  laughed. 

"  There's  the  Morgesons,"  I  continued,  "  I  hate  'em  all." 

"  All  ? "  she  echoed  ;  "  you  are  like  this  new  one." 

"  And  Grand'ther  Warren  " — I  continued. 

"  Your  talk,"  interrupted  Aunt  Merce,  jumping  up  and 
walking  about,  "  is  enough  to  make  him  rise  out  of  his 
grave." 

"  I  believe,"  said  Veronica,  "  that  Grand'ther  Warren 
nearly  crushed  you  and  mother,  when  girls  of  our  age. 


66  THE  MORGESONS. 

Did  you  know  that  you  had  any  wants  then  ?  or  dare  to 
dream  anything  beside  that  he  laid  down  for  you  ?  " 

Aunt  Merce  and  mother  exchanged  glances. 

"Say,  mother,  what  shall  I  do?"  I  asked  again. 

"  Do,"  she  answered  in  a  mechanical  voice ;  "  read  the 
Bible,  and  sew  more." 

"Veronica's  life  is  not  misspent,"  she  continued,  and 
seeming  to  forget  that  Verry  was  still  there.  "  Why  should 
she  find  work  for  her  hands  when  neither  you  nor  I  do  ? " 

Veronica  slipped  out  of  the  room  ;  and  I  sat  on  the  floor 
beside  mother.  I  loved  her  in  an  unsatisfactory  way. 
What  could  we  be  to  each  other  ?  We  kissed  tenderly  ;  I 
saw  she  was  saddened  by  something  regarding  me,  which 
she  could  not  explain,  because  she  refused  to  explain  me 
naturally.  I  thought  she  wished  me  to  believe  she  could 
have  no  infirmity  in  common  with  me — no  temptations,  no 
errors — that  she  must  repress  all  the  doubts  and  longings 
of  her  heart  for  example's  sake. 

There  was  a  weight  upon  me  all  that  day,  a  dreary  sense 
of  imperfection. 

When  father  came  home  he  asked  me  if  I  would  like  to  go 
to  Rosville.  I  answered,  "  Yes."  Mother  must  travel  with 
me,  for  he  could  not  leave  home.  The  sooner  I  went  the 
better.  He  also  thought  Veronica  should  go.  She  was 
called  and  consulted,  and,  provided  Temperance  would  ac 
company  us  to  take  care  of  her,  she  consented.  It  was  all 
arranged  that  evening.  Temperance  said  we  must  wait  a 
week  at  least,  for  her  corns  to  be  cured,  and  the  plum-col 
ored  silk  made,  which  had  been  shut  up  in  a  band-box  for 
three  years. 

We  started  on  our  journey  one  bright  morning  in  June, 
to  go  to  Boston  in  a  stagecoach,  a  hundred  miles  from  Sur 
rey,  and  thence  to  Rosville,  forty  miles  further,  by  railroad. 
We  stopped  a  night  on  the  way  to  Boston  at  a  country  inn, 
which  stood  before  an  egg-shaped  pond.  Temperance  re 
made  our  beds,  declaiming  the  while  against  the  unwhole 
some  situation  of  the  house  ;  the  idea  of  anybody's  living 
in  the  vicinity  of  fresh  water  astonished  her  ;  to  impose 
upon  travelers'  health  that  way  was  too  much.  She  went 
to  the  kitchen  to  learn  whether  the  landlady  cooked,  or 
hired  a  cook.  She  sat  up  all  night  with  our  luggage  in 
sight,  ^to  keep  off  what  she  called  "  prowlers  " — she  did 


THE  MORGESONS  67 

not  like  to  say  robbers,  for  fear  of  exciting  our  imagina 
tions — and  frightened  us  by  falling  out  of  her  chair  to 
ward  morning.  Veronica  insisted  upon  her  going  to  bed, 
but  she  refused,  till  Veronica  threatened  to  sit  up  herself, 
when  she  carried  her  own  carpet-bag  to  bed  with  her. 

We  arrived  in  Boston  the  next  day  and  went  to  the 
Bromfield  House  in  Bromfield  Street,  whither  father  had 
directed  us.  We  were  ushered  to  the  parlor  by  a  waiter, 
who  seemed  struck  by  Temperance,  and  who  was  treated 
by  her  with  respect.  "  Mr.  Shepherd,  the  landlord,  himself, 
I  guess,"  she  whispered. 

Three  cadaverous  children  were  there  eating  bread  and 
butter  from  a  black  tray  on  the  center-table. 

"  Good  Lord  !  "  exclaimed  Temperance,  "  what  bread 
those  children  are  eating  !  It  is  made  of  sawdust." 

"  It's  good,  you  old  cat,"  screamed  the  little  girl. 

Veronica  sat  down  by  her,  and  offered  her  some  sugar 
plums,  which  the  child  snatched  from  her  hand. 

"  We  are  missionaries,"  said  the  oldest  boy,  "and  we  are 
going  to  Bombay  next  week  in  the  Cabot.  I'll  make  the  na 
tives  gee,  I  tell  ye." 

"  Mercy  on  us  !  "  exclaimed  Temperance,  "  did  you 
ever  ? " 

Presently  a  sickly,  gentle-looking  man  entered,  in  a  suit 
of  black  camlet,  and  carrying  an  umbrella  ;  he  took  a  seat 
by  the  children,  and  ran  his  fingers  through  his  hair,  which 
already  stood  upright. 

"  That  girl  gave  Sis  some  sugar-plums,"  remarked  the  boy. 

"  I  hope  you  thanked  her,  Clarissa,"  said  the  father. 

"  No  ;  she  didn't  give  me  enough,"  the  child  answered. 

"  They  have  no  mother,"  the  poor  man  said  apologeti 
cally  to  Veronica,  looking  up  at  her,  and,  as  he  caught  her 
eye,  blushing  deeply.  She  bowed,  and  moved  away. 
Mother  rang  the  bell,  and  when  the  waiter  came  gave  him 
a  note  for  Mr.  Shepherd,  which  father  had  written,  bespeak 
ing  his  attention.  Mr.  Shepherd  soon  appeared,  and  con 
veyed  us  to  two  pleasant  rooms  with  an  unmitigated  view  of 
the  wall  of  the  next  house  from  the  windows. 

"  This,"  remarked  Temperance,  "  is  worse  than  the 
pond." 

Mr.  Shepherd  complimented  mother  on  her  fine  daugh 
ters  ;  hoped  Mr.  Morgeson  would  run  for  Congress  soon ; 


68  THE  MORGESONS. 

told  her  she  should  have  the  best  the  house  afforded,  and 
retired. 

I  wanted  to  shop,  and  mother  gave  me  money.  I  found 
Washington  Street,  and  bought  six  wide,  embroidered  belts, 
a  gilt  buckle,  a  variety  of  ribbons,  and  a  dozen  yards  of 
lace.  I  repented  the  whole  before  I  got  back  ;  for  I  saw 
other  articles  I  wanted  more.  I  found  mother  alone  ;  Tem 
perance  had  gone  out  with  Veronica,  she  said,  and  she  had 
given  Veronica  the  same  amount  of  money,  curious  to  know 
how  she  would  spend  it,  as  she  had  never  been  shopping. 
It  was  nearly  dark  when  they  returned. 

"  I  like  Boston,"  said  Verry. 

"  But  what  have  you  bought  ?  " 

She  displayed  a  beautiful  gold  chain,  and  a  little  cross 
for  the  throat ;  a  bundle  of  picture-books  for  the  mission 
ary  children  ;  a  sewing-silk  shawl  for  Hepsey,  and  some 
toys  for  Arthur. 

"  To-morrow,/  shall  go  shopping,"  said  mother.  "  What 
did  you  buy,  Temperance  ? " 

"  A  mean  shawl.  In  my  opinion,  Boston  is  a  den  of 
thieves." 

She  untied  a  box,  from  which  she  took  a  sky-blue  silk 
shawl,  with  brown  flowers  woven  in  it. 

"  I  gave  eighteen  dollars  for  it,  if  I  gave  a  cent,  Mis 
Morgeson  ;  I  know  I  am  cheated.  It's  sleazy,  isn't  it  ?" 

The  bell  for  tea  rang,  and  Mr.  Shepherd  came  up  to  es 
cort  us  to  the  table.  Temperance  delayed  us,  to  tie  on  a 
silk  apron,  to  protect  the  plum-colored  silk,  for,  as  she  ob 
served  to  Mr.  Shepherd,  she  was  afraid  it  would  show  grease 
badly.  I  could  not  help  exchanging  smiles  with  Mr.  Shep 
herd,  which  made  Veronica  frown.  The  whole  table  stared 
as  we  seated  ourselves,  for  we  derived  an  importance  from 
the  fact  that  we  were  under  the  personal  charge  of  the 
landlord. 

"  How  they  gawk  at  you,"  whispered  Temperance.  I  felt 
my  color  rise. 

"  The  gentlemen  do  not  guess  that  we  are  sisters,"  said 
Veronica  quietly. 

"  How  do  I  look  ?  "  I  asked. 

"You  know  how,  and  that  I  do  not  agree  with  your  opin 
ion.  You  look  cruel." 

"  I  am  cruel  hungry." 


THE  MORGESONS.  69 

Her  eyes  sparkled  with  disdain. 

"  What  do  you  mean  to  do  for  a  year  ?  "  I  continued. 

"  Forget  you,  for  one  thing." 

"  I  hope  you  wont  be  ill  again,  Verry." 

"  I  shall  be,"  she  answered  with  a  shudder  ;  "  I  need  all 
the  illnesses  that  come." 

"  As  for  me,"  I  said,  biting  my  bread  and  butter,  "  I  feel 
well  to  my  fingers'  ends  ;  they  tingle  with  strength.  I  am 
elated  with  health." 

I  had  not  spoken  the  last  word  before  I  became  conscious 
of  a  streak  of  pain  which  cut  me  like  a  knife  and  vanished  ; 
my  surprise  at  it  was  so  evident  that  she  asked  me  what 
ailed  me." 

"  Nothing." 

"  I  never  had  the  feeling  you  speak  of  in  my  finger 
ends,"  she  said  sadly,  looking  at  her  slender  hand. 

"  Poor  girl  !  " 

"  What  has  come  over  you,  Cass  ?  An  attack  of  compas 
sion  ?  Are  you  meaning  to  leave  an  amiable  impression 
with  me  ? " 

After  supper  Mr.  Shepherd  asked  mother  if  she  would  go 
to  the  theater.  The  celebrated  tragedian,  Forrest,  was  play 
ing  ;  would  the  young  ladies  like  to  see  Hamlet  ?  We  all 
went,  and  my  attention  was  divided  between  Hamlet  and 
two  young  men  who  lounged  in  the  box  door  till  Mr.  Shep 
herd  looked  them  away.  Veronica  laughed  at  Hamlet,  and 
Temperance  said  it  was  stuff  and  nonsense.  Veronica 
laughed  at  Ophelia,  also,  who  was  a  superb,  black-haired 
woman,  toying  with  an  elegant  Spanish  fan,  which  Hamlet 
in  his  energy  broke.  "  It  is  not  Shakespeare,"  she  said. 

"  Has  she  read  Shakespeare  ?  "  I  asked  mother. 

"  I  am  sure  I  do  not  know." 

That  night,  after  mother  and  Veronica  were  asleep,  I 
persuaded  Temperance  to  get  up,  and  bore  my  ears  with 
a  coarse  needle,  which  I  had  bought  for  the  purpose.  It 
hurt  me  so,  when  she  pierced  one,  that  I  could  not  sum 
mon  resolution  to  have  the  other  operated  on  ;  so  I  went  to 
bed  with  a  bit  of  sewing  silk  in  the  hole  she  had  made.  But 
in  the  morning  I  roused  her,  to  tell  her  I  thought  I  could 
bear  to  have  the  other  ear  bored.  When  mother  appeared 
I  showed  her  my  ears  red  and  sore,  insisting  that  I  must 
have  a  certain  pair  of  white  cornelian  ear-rings,  set  in  chased 


70  THE  MORGESONS. 

gold,  and  three  inches  long,  which  I  had  seen  in  a  shop 
window.  She  scolded  Temperance,  and  then  gave  nie  the 
money. 

The  next  day  mother  and  I  started  for  Rosville.  Veron 
ica  decided  to  remain  in  Boston  with  Temperance  till 
mother  returned.  She  said  that  if  she  went  she  might 
find  Mrs.  Morgeson  as  disagreeable  as  Mr.  Morgeson  was ; 
that  she  liked  the  Bromfield  ;  besides,  she  wanted  to  see 
the  missionary  children  off  for  Bombay,  and  intended  to  go 
down  to  the  ship  on  the  day  they  were  to  sail.  She  was 
also  going  to  ask  Mr.  Shepherd  to  look  up  a  celebrated 
author  for  her.  She  must  see  one  if  possible. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

IT  was  sunset  when  we  arrived  in  Rosville,  and  found  Mr. 
Morgeson  waiting  for  us  with  his  carriage  at  the  station. 

From  its  open  sides  I  looked  out  on  a  tranquil,  agreeable 
landscape  ;  there  was  nothing  saline  in  the  atmosphere. 
The  western  breeze,  which  blew  in  our  faces,  had  an  earthy 
scent,  with  fluctuating  streams  of  odors  from  trees  and 
flowers.  As  we  passed  through  the  town,  Cousin  Charles 
pointed  to  the  Academy,  which  stood  at  the  head  of  a 
green.  Pretty  houses  stood  round  it,  and  streets  branched 
from  it  in  all  directions.  Flower  gardens,  shrubbery,  and 
trees  were  scattered  everywhere.  Rosville  was  larger  and 
handsomer  than  Surrey. 

"  That  is  my  house,  on  the  right,"  he  said. 

We  looked  down  the  shady  street  through  which  we  were 
going,  and  saw  a  modern  cottage,  with  a  piazza  and  peaked 
roof,  and  on  the  side  toward  us  a  large  yard,  and  stables. 

We  drove  into  the  yard,  and  a  woman  came  out  on  the 
piazza,  to  receive  us.  It  was  Mrs.  Morgeson,  or  "  My 
wife,  Cousin  Alice,"  as  Mr.  Morgeson  introduced  her.  Giv 
ing  us  a  cordial  welcome,  she  led  us  into  a  parlor  where  tea 
was  waiting.  A  servant  came  in  for  our  bonnets  and  bask 
ets.  Cousin  Alice  begged  us  to  take  tea  at  once.  We 
were  hardly  seated  when  we  heard  the  cry  of  a  young 
child  ;  she  left  the  table  hastily,  to  come  back  in  a  mo 
ment  with  an  apology,  which  she  made  to  Cousin  Charles 


THE  MORGESONS.  71 

rather  than  to  us.  I  had  never  seen  a  table  so  well  arranged, 
so  fastidiously  neat  ;  it  glittered  with  glass  and  French 
china.  Cousin  Charles  sent  away  a  glass  and  a  plate, 
frowning  at  the  girl  who  waited  ;  there  must  have  been  a 
speck  or  a  flaw  in  them.  The  viands  were  as  pretty  as  the 
dishes,  the  lamb  chops  were  fragile  ;  the  bread  was  de 
licious,  but  cut  in  transparent  slices,  and  the  butter  pat  was 
nearly  stamped  through  with  its  bouquet  of  flowers.  This 
was  all  the  feast  except  sponge  cake,  which  felt  like  muslin 
in  the  fingers  ;  I  could  have  squeezed  the  whole  of  it  into 
my  mouth.  Still  hungry,  I  observed  that  Cousin  Charles 
and  Alice  had  finished  ;  and  though  she  shook  her  spoon  in 
the  cup,  feigning  to  continue,  and  he  snipped  crumbs  in  his 
plate,  I  felt  constrained  to  end  my  repast.  He  rose  then, 
and  pushing  back  folding-doors,  we  entered  a  large  room, 
leaving  Alice  at  the  table.  Windows  extending  to  the  floor 
opening  on  the  piazza,  but  notwithstanding  the  stream  of 
light  over  the  carpet,  I  thought  it  somber,  and  out  of  keep 
ing  with  the  cottage  exterior.  The  walls  were  covered  with 
dark  red  velvet  paper,  the  furniture  was  dark,  the  man 
tel  and  table  tops  were  black  marble,  and  the  vases  and  can 
delabra  were  bronze.  He  directed  mother's  attention  to  the 
portraits  of  his  children,  explaining  them,  while  I  went  to  a 
table  between  the  windows  to  examine  the  green  and  white 
sprays  of  some  delicate  flower  I  had  never  before  seen.  Its 
fragrance  was  intoxicating.  I  lifted  the  heavy  vase  which 
contained  it  ;  it  was  taken  from  me  gently  by  Charles,  and 
replaced. 

"  It  will  hardly  bear  touching,"  he  said.  "  By  to-morrow 
these  little  white  bells  will  be  dead." 

I  looked  up  at  him.     "  What  a  contrast  !  "  I  said. 

"  Where  ? " 

"  Here,  in  this  room,  and  in  you." 

"  And  between  you  and  me?  " 

His  face  was  serene,  dark,  and  delicate,  but  to  look  at  it 
made  me  shiver.  Mother  came  toward  us,  pleading  fatigue 
as  an  excuse  for  retiring,  and  Cousin  Charles  called  Cousin 
Alice,  who  went  with  us  to  our  room.  In  the  morning,  she 
said,  we  should  see  her  three  children.  She  never  left  them, 
she  was  so  afraid  of  their  being  ill,  also  telling  mother  that 
she  would  do  all  in  her  power  to  make  my  stay  in  Rosville 
pleasant  and  profitable.  As  a  mother,  she  could  appre- 


72  THE  MORGESONS. 

ciate  her  anxiety  and  sadness  in  leaving  me.  Mother 
thanked  her  warmly,  and  was  sure  that  I  should  be  happy; 
but  I  had  an  inward  misgiving  that  I  should  not  have 
enough  to  eat. 

"  I  hear  Edward,"  said  Alice.     "  Good-night." 
Presently  a  girl,  the  same  who  had  taken  our  bonnets, 
came  in  with  a  pitcher  of  warm  water  and  a  plate  of  soda 
biscuit.     She  directed  us  where  to  find  the  apparel  she  had 
nicely  smoothed  and  folded  ;  took  off  the  handsome  coun 
terpane,  and  the  pillows  trimmed  with   lace,  putting  others 
of  a  plainer  make  in  their  places  ;  shook  down  the  window 
curtains  ;  asked  us  if  we   would  have  anything  more,  and 
quietly  disappeared.     I  offered  mother  the  warm  water,  and 
appropriated  the  biscuits.      There  were   six.     I  ate  every 
one,  undressing  meanwhile,  and  surveying  the  apartment. 
"  Cassy,  Mrs.  Morgeson  is  an  excellent  housekeeper." 
"  Yes,"  I  said  huskily,  for  the  dry  biscuit  choked  me.     "? 
"  What  would  Temperance  and  Hepsey  say  to  this  ?  " 
"  I  think  they  would  grumble,  and  admire.    Look  at  this," 
showing  her  the  tassels  of  the  inner  window  curtains  done 
up  in  little  bags.     "  And  the  glass  is  pinned  up  with  nice 
yellow  paper  ;  and  here  is  a  damask  napkin  fastened  to  the 
wall  behind  the  washstand.      And  everything  stands  on  a 
mat.     I  wonder  if  this  is  to  be  my  room  ?  " 

"  It  is  probably  the  chamber  for  visitors.  Why,  these  are 
beautiful  pillow-cases,  too,"  she  exclaimed,  as  she  put  her 
head  on  the  pillow.  "  Come  to  bed  ;  don't  read." 

I  had  taken  up  a  red  morocco-bound  book,  which  was 
lying  alone  on  the  bureau.  It  was  Byron,  and  turning  over 
the  leaves  till  I  came  to  Don  Juan,  I  read  it  through,  and 
began  Childe  Harold,  but  the  candle  expired.  I  struck  out 
my  hands  through  the  palpable  darkness,  to  find  the  bed 
without  disturbing  mother,  whose  soul  was  calmly  threading 
the  labyrinth  of  sleep.  I  finished  Childe  Harold  early  in 
the  morning,  though,  and  went  down  to  breakfast,  longing 
to  be  a  wreck  ! 

The  three  children  were  in  the  breakfast-room,  which  was 
not  the  one  we  had  taken  tea  in,  but  a  small  apartment, 
with  a  door  opening  into  the  garden.  They  were  beauti 
fully  dressed,  and  their  mother  was  tending  and  watching 
them.  The  oldest  was  eight  years,  the  youngest  three 
months.  Cousin  Alice  gave  us  descriptions  of  their  tastes 


THE  MORGESONS,  73 

and  habits,  dwelling  with  emphasis  on  those  of  the  baby.  I 
drew  from  her  conversation  the  opinion  that  she  had  a 
tendency  to  the  rearing  of  children.  I  was  glad  when 
Cousin  Charles  came  in,  looking  at  his  watch.  "  Send  off 
the  babies,  Alice,  and  ring  the  bell  for  breakfast." 

She  sent  out  the  two  youngest,  put  little  Edward  in  his 
chair,  and  breakfast  began. 

"  Mrs.  Morgeson,"  said  Charles,  "  the  horses  will  be 
ready  to  take  you  round  Rosville.  We  will  call  on  Dr. 
Price,  for  you  to  see  the  kind  of  master  Cassandra  will 
have.  I  have  already  spoken  to  him  about  receiving  a 
new  pupil." 

"Oh,  I  am  homesick  at  the  idea  of  school  and  a  master," 
I  said. 

Mother  tried  in  vain  to  look  hard-hearted,  and  to  per 
suade  that  it  was  good  for  me,  but  she  lost  her  appetite, 
with  the  thought  of  losing  me,  which  the  mention  of  Dr. 
Price  brought  home.  The  breakfast  was  as  well  adapted 
to  a  delicate  taste  as  the  preceding  supper.  The  ham  was 
most  savory,  but  cut  in  such  thin  slices  that  it  curled  ;  and 
the  biscuits  were  as  white  and  feathery  as  snowflakes.  I 
think  also  that  the  boiled  eggs  were  smaller  than  any  I  had 
seen.  Cousin  Alice  gave  unremitting  attention  to  Edward, 
who  ate  as  little  as  the  rest. 

"  Mother,"  I  said  afterward,  "  I  am  afraid  I  am  an 
animal.  Did  you  notice  how  little  the  Morgesons  ate  ?" 

"  I  noticed  how  elegant  their  table  appointments  were, 
and  I  shall  buy  new  china  in  Boston  to-morrow.  I  wish 
Hepsey  would  not  load  our  table  as  she  does." 

"  Hepsey  is  a  good  woman,  mother  ;  do  give  my  love  to 
her.  Now  that  I  think  of  it,  she  was  always  making  up 
some  nice  dish  ;  tell  her  I  remember  it,  will  you  ?" 

When  Cousin  Charles  put  us  into  the  carriage,  and  hoisted 
little  Edward  on  the  front  seat,  mother  noticed  that  two 
men  held  the  horses,  and  that  they  were  not  the  same  he 
had  driven  the  night  before.  She  said  she  was  afraid  to 
go,  they  looked  ungovernable  ;  but  he  reassured  her,  and 
one  of  the  men  averring  that  Mr.  Morgeson  could  drive 
anything,  she  repressed  her  fears,  and  we  drove  out  of  the 
yard  behind  a  pair  of  horses  that  stood  on  their  hind  legs 
as  often  as  that  position  was  compatible  with  the  necessity 
they  were  under  of  getting  on,  for  they  evidently  under- 


74  THE  MORGESONS. 

stood  that  they  were  guided  by  a  firm  hand.  Edward  was 
delighted  with  their  behavior,  and  for  the  first  time  I  saw 
his  father  smile  on  him. 

"  These  are  fine  brutes,"  he  said,  not  taking  his  eyes 
from  them  ;  "  but  they  are  not  equal  to  my  mare,  Nell. 
Alice  is  afraid  of  her  ;  but  I  hope  that  you,  Cassandra,  will 
ride  with  me  sometimes  when  1  drive  her." 

"  Oh  !  "  exclaimed  mother,  grasping  my  arm. 

"  You  would,  would  you  ?"  he  said,  taking  out  the  whip, 
as  the  horses  recoiled  from  a  man  who  lay  by  the  roadside, 
leaping  so  high  that  the  harness  seemed  rattling  from  their 
backs.  He  struck  them,  and  said,  "  Go  on  now,  go  on, 
devils."  There  was  no  further  trouble.  He  encouraged 
mother  not  to  be  afraid,  looking  keenly  at  me.  I  looked 
back  at  him. 

"  How  much  worse  is  the  mare,  cousin  Charles  ? " 

"  You  shall  see." 

After  driving  round  the  town  we  stopped  at  the  Academy. 
Morning  prayers  were  over,  and  the  scholars,  some  sixty 
boys  and  girls,  were  coming  downstairs  from  the  hall,  to 
go  into  the  rooms,  each  side  of  a  great  door.  Dr.  Price 
was  behind  them.  He  stopped  when  he  saw  us,  an  intro 
duction  took  place,  and  he  inquired  for  Dr.  Snell,  as  an  old 
college  friend.  Locke  Morgeson  sounded  familiarly,  he 
said  ;  a  member  of  his  mother's  family  named  Somers  had 
married  a  gentleman  of  that  name.  He  remembered  it 
from  an  old  ivory  miniature  which  his  mother  had  shown 
him,  telling  him  it  was  the  likeness  of  her  cousin  Rachel's 
husband.  I  replied  we  knew  that  grandfather  had  married  a 
Rachel  Somers.  Cousin  Charles  was  surprised  and  a  little 
vexed  that  the  doctor  had  never  told  him,  when  he  must 
have  known  that  he  had  been  anxiously  looking  up  the 
Morgeson  pedigree  ;  but  the  doctor  declared  he  had  not 
thought  of  it  before,  and  that  only  the  name  of  Locke  had 
recalled  it  to  his  mind.  He  then  proposed  our  going  to 
Miss  Prior,  the  lady  who  had  charge  of  the  girls'  depart 
ment,  and  we  followed  him  to  her  school-room. 

I  was  at  once  interested  and  impressed  by  the  appear 
ance  of  my  teacher  that  was  to  be.  She  was  a  dignified, 
kind-looking  woman,  who  asked  me  a  few  questions  in  such 
a  pleasant,  direct  manner  that  I  frankly  told  her  I  was 
eighteen  years  old,  very  ignorant,  and  averse  from  learning  ; 


THE  MORGESONS.  75 

but  I  did  not  speak  loud  enough  for  anybody  beside  her 
self  to  hear. 

"  Now,"  said  mother,  when  we  came  away,  "  think  how 
much  greater  your  advantages  are  than  mine  have  ever 
been.  How  miserable  was  my  youth  !  It  is  too  late  for 
me  to  make  any  attempt  at  cultivation.  I  have  no  wish 
that  way.  Yet  now  I  feel  sometimes  as  if  I  were  leaving 
the  confines  of  my  old  life  to  go  I  know  not  whither,  to 
do  I  know  not  what." 

But  her  countenance  fell  when  she  heard  that  Dr.  Price 
had  been  a  Unitarian  minister,  and  that  there  was  no  Con 
gregational  church  in  Rosville. 

She  went  to  Boston  that  Friday  afternoon,  anxious  to  get 
safely  home  with  Veronica.  We  parted  with  many  a  kiss 
and  shake  of  the  hand  and  last  words.  I  cried  when  I  went 
up  to  my  room,  for  I  found  a  present  there — a  beautiful 
workbox,  and  in  it  was  a  small  Bible  with  my  name  and 
hers  written  on  the  fly-leaf  in  large  print-like,  but  tremulous 
letters.  I  composed  my  feelings  by  putting  it  away  care 
fully  and  unpacking  my  trunk. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

T~)  OSVILLE  was  a  county  town.  The  courts  were  held 
\\  there,  and  its  society  was  adorned  with  several  lawyers 
of  note  who  had  law  students,  which  fact  was  to  the 
lawyers'  daughters  the  most  agreeable  feature  of  their 
fathers'  profession.  It  had  a  weekly  market  day  and  an 
annual  cattle  show.  I  saw  a  turnout  of  whips  and  wagons 
about  the  hitching-posts  round  the  green  of  a  Tuesday  the 
year  through,  and  going  to  and  from  school  met  men  with 
a  bovine  smell.  Caucuses  were  prevalent,  and  occasionally 
a  State  Convention  was  held,  when  Rosville  paid  honor  to 
some  political  hero  of  the  day  with  banners  and  brass  bands. 
It  was  a  favorite  spot  for  the  rustication  of  naughty  boys 
from  Harvard  or  Yale.  Dr.  Price  had  one  or  two  at  pres 
ent  who  boarded  in  his  house  so  as  to  be  immediately 
under  his  purblind  eyes,  and  who  took  Greek  and  Latin  at 
the  Academy. 
Social  feuds  raged  in  the  Academy  coteries  between  the 


76  THE  MORGESONS. 

collegians  and  the  natives  on  account  of  the  superior  suc 
cess  of  the  former  in  flirtation.  The  latter  were  not  con 
soled  by  their  experience  that  no  flirtation  lasted  beyond 
the  period  of  rustication.  Dr.  Price  usually  had  several 
young  men  fitting  for  college  also,  which  fact  added  more 
piquancy  to  the  provincial  society.  In  the  summer  riding 
parties  were  fashionable,  and  in  the  winter  county  balls  and 
cotillion  parties  ;  a  professor  came  down  from  Boston  at 
this  season  to  set  up  a  dancing  school,  which  was  always 
well  attended. 

The  secular  concerns  of  life  engaged  the  greatest  share 
of  the  interests  of  its  inhabitants  ;  and  although  there 
existed  social  and  professional  dissensions,  there  was  little 
sectarian  spirit  among  them  and  no  religious  zeal.  The 
rich  and  fashionable  were  Unitarians.  The  society  owned 
a  tumble-down  church  ;  a  mild  preacher  stood  in  its  pulpit 
and  prayed  and  preached,  sideways  and  slouchy.  This 
degree  of  religious  vitality  accorded  with  the  habits  of  its 
generations.  Surrey  and  Barmouth  would  have  howled 
over  the  Total  Depravity  of  Rosville.  There  was  no  pro 
bationary  air  about  it.  Human  Nature  was  the  infallible 
theme  there.  At  first  I  missed  the  vibration  of  the  moral 
sword  which  poised  in  our  atmosphere.  When  I  felt  an 
emotion  without  seeing  the  shadow  of  its  edge  turning 
toward  me,  I  discovered  my  conscience,  which  hitherto  had 
only  been  described  to  me. 

There  were  churches  in  the  town  beside  the  Unitarian. 
The  Universalists  had  a  bran-new  one,  and  there  was  still 
another  frequented  by  the  sedimentary  part  of  the  popula 
tion — Methodists. 

I  toned  down  perfectly  within  three  months.  Soon  after 
my  arrival  at  his  house  I  became  afraid  of  Cousin  Charles. 
Not  that  he  ever  said  anything  to  justify  fear  of  him — he 
was  more  silent  at  home  than  elsewhere  ;  but  he  was  im 
perious,  fastidious,  and  sarcastic  with  me  by  a  look,  a  ges 
ture,  an  inflection  of  his  voice.  My  perception  of  any  de 
fect  in  myself  was  instantaneous  with  his  discovery  of  it. 
I  fell  into  the  habit  of  guessing  each  day  whether  I  was  to 
offend  or  please  him,  and  then  into  that  of  intending  to 
please.  An  intangible,  silent,  magnetic  feeling  existed 
between  us,  changing  and  developing  according  to  its  own 
mysterious  law,  remaining  intact  in  spite  of  the  contests 


THE  MORGESONS.  77 

between  us  of  resistance  and  defiance.  But  my  feeling  died 
or  slumbered  when  I  was  beyond  the  limits  of  his  personal 
influence.  When  in  his  presence  I  was  so  pervaded  by  it 
that  whether  I  went  contrary  to  the  dictates  of  his  will  or 
not  I  moved  as  if  under  a  pivot ;  when  away  my  natural 
elasticity  prevailed,  and  I  held  the  same  relation  to  others 
that  I  should  have  held  if  I  had  not  known  him.  This  con 
tinued  till  the  secret  was  divined,  and  then  his  influence 
was  better  remembered. 

I  discovered  that  there  was  little  love  between  him  and 
Alice.  I  never  heard  from  either  an  expression  denoting 
that  each  felt  an  interest  in  the  other's  individual  life ; 
neither  was  there  any  of  that  conjugal  freemasonry  which 
bores  one  so  to  witness.  But  Alice  was  not  unhappy.  Her 
ideas  of  love  ended  with  marriage;  what  came  afterward — 
children,  housekeeping,  and  the  claims  of  society — sufficed 
her  needs.  If  she  had  any  surplus  of  feeling  it  was  ex 
pended  upon  her  children,  who  had  much  from  her  already, 
for  she  was  devoted  and  indulgent  to  them.  In  their 
management  she  allowed  no  interference,  on  this  point  only 
thwarting  her  husband.  In  one  respect  she  and  Charles 
harmonized  ;  both  were  worldly,  and  in  all  the  material  of 
living  there  was  sympathy.  Their  relation  was  no  unhap- 
piness  to  him  ;  he  thought,  I  dare  say,  if  he  thought  at  all, 
that  it  was  a  natural  one.  The  men  of  his  acquaintance 
called  him  a  lucky  man,  for  Alice  was  handsome,  kind- 
hearted,  intelligent,  and  popular. 

Whether  Cousin  Alice  would  have  found  it  difficult  to 
fulfill  the  promise  she  made  mother  regarding  me,  if  I  had 
been  a  plain,  unnoticeable  girl,  I  cannot  say,  or  whether 
her  anxiety  that  I  should  make  an  agreeable  impression 
would  have  continued  beyond  a  few  days.  She  looked 
after  my  dress  and  my  acquaintances.  When  she  found 
that  I  was  sought  by  the  young  people  of  her  set  and  the 
Academy,  she  was  gratified,  and  opened  her  house  for  them, 
giving  little  parties  and  large  ones,  which  were  pleasant  to 
everybody  except  Cousin  Charles,  who  detested  company — 
"  it  made  him  lie  so."  But  he  was  very  well  satisfied  that 
people  should  like  to  visit  and  praise  his  house  and  its 
belongings,  if  Alice  would  take  the  trouble  of  it  upon  her 
self.  I  made  calls  with  her  Wednesday  afternoons,  and 
went  to  church  with  her  Sunday  mornings.  At  home  I  saw 


78  THE  MORGESONS. 

fittle  of  her.  She  was  almost  exclusively  occupied  with  the 
children — their  ailments  or  their  pleasures — and  staid  in  her 
own  room,  or  the  nursery. 

When  in  the  house  I  never  occupied  one  spot  long,  but 
wandered  in  the  garden,  which  had  a  row  of  elms,  or 
haunted  the  kitchen  and  stables,  to  watch  black  Phcebe,  the 
cook,  or  the  men  as  they  cleaned  the  horses  or  carriages. 
My  own  room  was  in  a  wing  of  the  cottage,  with  a  window 
overlooking  the  entrance  into  the  yard  and  the  carriage 
drive ;  this  was  its  sole  view,  except  the  wall  of  a  house  on 
the  other  side  of  a  high  fence.  I  heard  Charles  when  he 
drove  home  at  night,  or  away  in  the  morning  ;  knew  when 
Nell  was  in  a  bad  humor  by  the  tone  of  his  voice,  which  I 
heard  whether  my  window  was  open  or  shut.  It  was  a 
pretty  room,  with  a  set  of  maple  furniture,  and  amber  and 
white  wallpaper,  and  amber  and  white  chintz  curtains  and 
coverings.  It  suited  the  color  of  my  hair,  Alice  declared, 
and  was  becoming  to  my  complexion. 

"  Yes,"  said  Charles,  looking  at  my  hair  with  an  expres 
sion  that  made  me  put  my  hand  up  to  my  head  as  if  to  hide 
it  ;  I  knew  it  was  carelessly  dressed. 

I  made  a  study  that  day  of  the  girls'  heads  at  school,  and 
from  that  time  improved  in  my  style  of  wearing  it,  and  I 
brushed  it  with  zeal  every  day  afterward.  Alice  had  my 
room  kept  so  neatly  for  me  that  it  soon  came  to  be  a 
reproach,  and  I  was  finally  taught  by  her  example  how  to 
adjust  chairs,  books,  and  mats  in  straight  lines,  to  fold 
articles  without  making  odd  corners  and  wrinkles;  at  last 
I  improved  so  much  that  I  could  find  what  I  was  seeking 
in  a  drawer,  without  harrowing  it  with  my  fingers,  and 
began  to  see  beauty  in  order.  Alice  had  a  talent  for  house 
keeping,  and  her  talent  was  fostered  by  the  exacting,  system 
atic  taste  of  her  husband.  He  examined  many  matters 
which  are  usually  left  to  women,  and  he  applied  his  busi 
ness  talent  to  the  art  of  living,  succeeding  in  it  as  he  did  in 
everything  else. 

Alice  told  me  that  Charles  had  been  poor ;  that  his  father 
was  never  on  good  terms  with  him.  She  fancied  they  were 
too  much  alike  ;  so  he  had  turned  him  off  to  shift  for  him 
self,  when  quite  young.  When  she  met  him,  he  was  the 
agent  of  a  manufacturing  company,  in  the  town  where  her 
parents  lived,  and  even  then,  in  his  style  of  living,  he  sur- 


THE  MORGESONS.  79 

passed  the  young  men  of  her  acquaintance.  The  year 
before  they  were  married  his  father  died,  and  as  Charles 
was  his  only  child,  he  left  his  farm  to  him,  and  ten  thousand 
dollars — all  he  had.  The  executors  of  the  will  were 
obliged  to  advertise  for  him,  not  having  any  clue  to  his 
place  of  residence.  He  sold  the  farm  as  soon  as  it  was  put 
in  his  hands,  took  the  ten  thousand  dollars,  and  came  back 
to  be  married.  A  year  after,  he  went  to  Rosville,  and  built 
a  cotton  factory,  three  miles  from  town,  and  the  cottage, 
and  then  brought  her  and  Edward,  who  was  a  few  months 
old,  to  live  in  it.  He  had  since  enlarged  the  works, 
employed  more  operatives,  and  was  making  a  great  deal  of 
money.  Morgeson's  Mills,  she  believed,  were  known  all 
over  the  country.  Charles  was  his  own  agent,  as  well  as 
sole  owner.  There  were  no  mills  beside  his  in  the  neigh 
borhood  ;  to  that  fact  she  ascribed  the  reason  of  his  hav 
ing  no  difficulties  in  Rosville,  and  no  enmities  ;  for  she 
knew  he  had  no  wish  to  make  friends.  The  Rosville  people, 
having  no  business  in  common  with  him,  had  no  right  to 
meddle,  and  could  find  but  small  excuse  for  comment. 
They  spent,  she  said,  five  or  six  thousand  a  year  ;  most  of 
it  went  in  horses,  she  was  convinced,  and  she  believed  his 
flowers  cost  him  a  great  deal  too.  "  You  must  know,  Cas 
sandra,  that  his  heart  is  with  his  horses  and  his  flowers. 
He  is  more  interested  in  them  than  he  is  in  his  children." 

She  looked  vexed  when  she  said  this  ;  but  I  took  hold  of 
the  edge  of  her  finely  embroidered  cape,  and  asked  her  how 
much  it  cost.  She  laughed,  and  said,  "  Fifty  dollars  ;  but 
you  see  how  many  lapels  it  has.  I  have  still  a  handsomer 
one  that  was  seventy-five." 

"  Are  they  a  part  of  the  six  thousand  a  year,  Alice  ?" 

"  Of  course  ;  but  Charles  wishes  me  to  dress,  and  never 
stints  me  in  money  ;  and,  after  all,  I  like  for  him  to  spend 
his  money  in  his  own  way.  It  vexes  me  sometimes,  he 
buys  such  wild  brutes,  and  endangers  his  life  with  them. 
He  rides  miles  and  miles  every  year  ;  and  it  relieves  the 
tedium  of  his  journeys  to  have  horses  he  must  watch,  I 
suppose." 

Nobody  in  Rosville  lived  at  so  fast  a  rate  as  the  Mor- 
gesons.  The  oldest  families  there  were  not  the  richest — 
the  Ryders,  in  particular.  Judge  Ryder  had  four  unmar 
ried  daughters  ;  they  were  the  only  girls  in  our  set  who 


8o  THE  MORGESONS. 

never  invited  us  to  visit  them.  They  could  not  help  saying, 
with  a  fork  of  the  neck,  "  Who  are  the  Morgesons  ?"  But 
all  the  others  welcomed  Cousin  Alice,  and  were  friendly 
with  me.  She  was  too  pretty  and  kind-hearted  not 
to  be  liked,  if  she  was  rich  ;  and  Cousin  Charles  was 
respected,  because  he  made  no  acquaintance  beyond  bows, 
and  "  How-de-do's."  It  was  rather  a  stirring  thing  to  have 
such  a  citizen,  especially  when  he  met  with  an  accident,  and 
he  broke  many  carriages  in  the  course  of  time ;  and  now 
and  then  there  was  a  row  at  the  mills,  which  made  talk. 
His  being  considered  a  hard  man  did  not  detract  from  the 
interest  he  inspired. 

My  advent  in  Rosville  might  be  considered  a  fortunate 
one  ;  appearances  indicated  it ;  I  am  sure  I  thought  so,  and 
was  very  well  satisfied  with  my  position.  I  conformed  to 
the  ways  of  the  family  with  ease,  even  in  the  matter  of 
small  breakfasts  and  light  suppers.  I  found  that  I  was 
more  elastic  than  before,  and  more  susceptible  to  sudden 
impressions ;  I  was  conscious  of  the  ebb  and  flow  of  blood 
through  my  heart,  felt  it  when  it  eddied  up  into  my 
face,  and  touched  my  brain  with  its  flame-colored  wave.  I 
loved  life  again.  The  stuff  of  which  each  day  was  woven 
was  covered  with  an  arabesque  which  suited  my  fancy.  I 
missed  nothing  that  the  present  unrolled  for  me,  but 
looked  neither  to  the  past  nor  to  the  future.  In  truth  there 
was  little  that  was  elevated  in  me.  Could  I  have  perceived 
it  if  there  had  been  ?  Whichever  way  the  circumstances  of 
my  life  vacillated,  I  was  not  yet  reached  to  the  quick ; 
whether  spiritual  or  material  influences  made  sinuous  the 
current  of  being,  it  still  flowed  toward  an  undiscovered 
ocean. 

Half  the  girls  at  the  Academy,  like  myself,  came  from 
distant  towns.  Some  had  been  there  three  years.  They 
were  all  younger  than  myself.  There  never  had  been  a 
boarding-house  attached  to  the  school,  and  it  was  not  con 
sidered  a  derogatory  thing  for  the  best  families  to  receive 
these  girls  as  boarders.  We  were  therefore  on  the  same 
footing,  in  a  social  sense.  I  was  also  on  good  terms  with 
Miss  Prior.  She  was  a  cold  and  kindly  woman,  faithful 
as  a  teacher,  gifted  with  an  insight  into  the  capacity  of  a 
pupil.  She  gave  me  a  course  of  History  first,  and  after 
that  Physical  Philosophy ;  but  never  recommended  me  to 


THE   MORGESONS.  8 1 

Moral  Science.  When  I  had  been  with  her  a  few  months, 
she  proposed  that  I  should  study  the  common  branches ; 
my  standing  in  the  school  was  such  that  I  went  down 
into  the  primary  classes  without  shame,  and  I  must  say  that 
I  was  the  dullest  scholar  in  them.  We  also  had  a  drawing 
master  and  a  music-teacher.  The  latter  was  an  amiable 
woman,  with  theatrical  manners.  She  was  a  Mrs.  Lane  ; 
but  no  Mr.  Lane  had  ever  been  seen  in  Rosyille.  We  girls 
supposed  he  had  deserted  her,  which  was  the  fact,  as  she  told 
me  afterward.  She  cried  whenever  she  sang  a  sentimental 
song,  but  never  gave  up  to  her  tears,  singing  on  with 
blinded  eyes  and  quavering  voice.  J  laughed  at  her 
dresses  which  had  been  handsome,  with  much  frayed  trim 
ming  about  them,  the  hooks  and  eyes  loosened  and  the 
seams  strained,  but  liked  her,  and  although  I  did  not  take 
lessons,  saw  her  every  day  when  she  came  up  to  the 
Academy.  She  asked  me  once  if  I  had  any  voice.  I 
answered  her  by  singing  one  of  our  Surrey  hymns,  "  Once 
on  the  raging  seas  he  rode."  She  grew  pale,  and  said, 
"  Don't  for  heaven's  sake  sing  that !  I  can  see  my  old 
mother,  as  she  looked  when  she  sang  that  hymn  of  a  stormy 
night,  when  father  was  out  to  sea.  Both  are  dead  now,  and 
where  am  I  ?  " 

She  turned  round  on  the  music  stool,  and  banged  out 
the  accompaniment  of  "  O  pilot,  'tis  a  fearful  night"  and 
sang  it  with  great  energy.  After  her  feelings  were  com 
posed,  she  begged  me  to  allow  her  to  teach  me  to  sing. 
"  You  can  at  least  learn  the  simple  chords  of  song  accom 
paniments,  and  I  think  you  have  a  voice  that  can  be  made 
effective." 

I  promised  to  try,  and  as  I  had  taken  lessons  before,  in 
three  months  I  could  play  and  sing  "  Should  those  fond 
h>f>es  e'er  forsake  thee"  tolerably  well.  But  Mrs.  Lane  per 
sisted  in  affirming  that  I  had  a  dramatic  talent,  and  as  she 
supposed  that  I  never  should  be  an  actress,  I  must  bring  it 
out  in  singing ;  so  I  persevered,  and,  thanks  to  her,  improved 
so  much  that  people  said,  when  I  was  mentioned,  "  She 
sings." 

The  Moral  Sciences  went  to  Dr.  Price,  and  he  had  a  class 
of  girls  in  Latin  ;  but  my  only  opportunity  of  going  before 
him  was  at  morning  prayers  and  Wednesday  afternoons, 
when  we  assembled  in  the  hall  to  hear  orations  in  Latin,  or 


THE  MORGESONS. 


translations,  and  "  pieces  "  spoken  by  the  boys  ;  and  at  the 
quarterly  reviews,  when  he  marched  us  backward  and  for 
ward  through  the  books  we  had  conned,  like  the  sharp  old 
gentleman  he  was,  notwithstanding  his  purblind  eyes. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

I  HEARD  from  home  regularly  ;  father,  however,  was 
my  only  correspondent.  He  stipulated  that  I  should 
write  him  every  other  Saturday,  if  not  more  than  a 
line  ;  but  I  did  more  than  that  at  first,  writing  up  the  events 
of  the  fortnight,  interspersing  my  opinions  of  the  actors 
engaged  therein,  and  dwindling  by  degrees  down  to  the 
mere  acknowledgment  of  his  letter.  He  read  without  com 
ment,  but  now  and  then  he  asked  me  questions  which 
puzzled  me  to  answer. 

"  Do  you  like  Mr.  Morgeson  ?"  he  asked  once. 

"  He  is  very  attentive,"  I  wrote  back.  "  But  so  is 
Cousin  Alice, — she  is  fond  of  me." 

"  You  do  not  like  Morgeson  ?  "  again. 

"  Are  there  no  agreeable  young  men,"  he  asked  another 
time,  "  with  Dr.  Price  ?  " 

"  Only  boys,"  I  wrote — "  cubs  of  my  own  age." 

Among  the  first  letters  I  received  was  one  with  the  news 
of  the  death  of  my  grandfather,  John  Morgeson.  He  had 
left  ten  thousand  dollars  for  Arthur,  the  sum  to  be  with 
drawn  from  the  house  of  Locke  Morgeson  &  Co.,  and  in 
vested  elsewhere,  for  the  interest  to  accumulate,  and  be  added 
to  the  principal,  till  he  should  be  of  age.  The  rest  of  his 
property  he  gave  to  the  Foreign  Missionary  Society. 
"  Now,"  wrote  father,  "  it  will  come  your  turn  next,  to  stand 
in  the  gap,  when  your  mother  and  I  fall  back  from  the 
forlorn  hope — life."  This  merry  and  unaccustomed  view 
of  things  did  not  suggest  to  my  mind  the  change  he  inti 
mated  ;  I  could  not  dwell  on  such  an  idea,  so  steadfast  a 
home-principle  were  father  and  mother.  It  was  different 
with  grandfathers  and  grandmothers,  of  course  ;  they  died, 
since  it  was  not  particularly  necessary  for  them  to  live  after 
their  children  were  married. 

It  was  early  June  when  I  went  to  Rosville  ;  it  was  now 


THE  MORGESONS.  83 

October.  There  was  nothing  more  for  me  to  discover  there. 
My  relations  at  home  and  at  school  were  established,  and  it 
was  probable  that  the  next  year's  plans  were  all  settled. 

"  It  is  the  twentieth,"  said  my  friend,  Helen  Perkins,  as 
we  lingered  in  the  Academy  yard,  after  school  hours.  "  The 
trees  have  thinned  so  we  can  see  up  and  down  the  streets. 
Isn't  that  Mr.  Morgeson  who  is  tearing  round  the  corner  of 
Gold  Street?  Do  you  think  he  is  strange-looking?  I  do. 
His  hair,  and  eyes,  and  complexion  are  exactly  the  same 
hue  ;  what  color  is  it  ?  A  pale  brown,  or  a  greenish  gray  ? " 

"  Is  he  driving  this  way  ?  " 

"  Yes  ;  the  fore-legs  of  his  horse  have  nearly  arrived." 

I  moved  on  in  advance  of  Helen,  toward  the  gate  ;  he 
beckoned  when  he  saw  me,  and  presently  reined  Nell  close 
to  us.  "  You  can  decide  now  what  color  he  is,"  I  whis 
pered  to  her. 

"  Will  you  ride  home  ?  "  he  asked.  "  And  shall  I  take  you 
down  to  Bancroft's,  Miss  Helen  ?  " 

She  would  have  declined,  but  I  took  her  arm,  pushed  her 
into  the  chaise,  and  then  sprang  in  after  her  ;  she  seized 
the  hand-loop,  in  view  of  an  upset. 

"  You  are  afraid  of  my  horse,  Miss  Helen,"  he  said, 
without  having  looked  at  her. 

"  I  am  afraid  of  your  driving,"  she  answered,  leaning  back 
and  looking  behind  him  at  me.  She  shook  her  head  and 
put  her  finger  on  her  eyelid  to  make  me  understand  that 
she  did  not  like  the  color  of  his  eyes. 

"  Cassandra  is  afraid  of  neither,"  he  said. 

"  Why  should  I  be  ?  "  I  replied  coldly. 

We  were  soon  at  the  Bancrofts',  where  Helen  lived, 
which  was  a  mile  from  the  Academy,  and  half  a  mile  from 
our  house.  When  we  were  going  home,  he  asked  : 

"  Is  she  your  intimate  friend  ?  " 

"  The  most  in  school." 

"  Is  there  the  usual  nonsense  about  her  ?  " 

"  What  do  you  mean  by  nonsense  ?  " 

"  When  a  girl  talks  about  her  lover  or  proposes  one  to 
her  friend." 

"  I  think  she  is  not  gifted  that  way." 

"  Then  I  like  her." 

"  Why  should  she  not  talk  about  lovers,  though  ?  The 
next  time  I  see  her  I  will  bring  up  the  subject." 


84  THE  MORGESONS. 

"  You  shall  think  and  talk  of  your  lessons,  and  nothing 
more,  I  charge  you.  Go  on,  Nell,"  he  said,  in  a  loud  voice, 
turning  into  the  yard  and  grazing  one  of  the  gate-posts,  so 
that  we  struck  together.  I  was  vexed,  thinking  it  was  done 
purposely,  and  brushed  my  shoulder  where  he  came  in  con 
tact,  as  if  dust  had  fallen  on  me,  and  jumped  out  without 
looking  at  him,  and  ran  into  the  house. 

"  Are  you  losing  your  skill  in  driving,  Charles  ?  "  Alice 
asked,  when  we  were  at  tea,  "  or  is  Nell  too  much  for  you  ? 
I  saw  you  crash  against  the  gate-post." 

"  Did  you  ?  My  hand  was  not  steady,  and  we  made  a 
lurch." 

"  Was  there  a  fight  at  the  mills  last  night  ?  Jesse 
said  so." 

"  Jesse  must  mind  his  business." 

"  He  told  Phcebe  about  it." 

"  I  knocked  one  of  the  clerks  over  and  sprained  my 
wrist." 

I  met  his  eye  then.     "  It  was  your  right  hand  ? "  I  asked. 

"  It  was  my  right  hand,"  in  a  deferential  tone,  and  with  a 
slight  bow  in  my  direction. 

"  Was  it  Parker  ? "  she  asked. 

"  Yes,  he  is  a  puppy  ;  but  don't  talk  about  it." 

Nothing  more  was  said,  even  by  Edward,  who  observed 
his  father  with  childish  gravity,  I  meditated  on  the  in 
justice  I  had  done  him  about  the  gate-post.  After  tea  he 
busied  himself  in  the  garden  among  the  flowers  which  were 
still  remaining.  I  lingered  in  the  parlor  or  walked  the 
piazza,  with  an  undefined  desire  of  speaking  to  him  before 
I  should  go  to  my  room.  After  he  had  finished  his  garden 
work  he  went  to  the  stable  ;  I  heard  the  horses  stepping 
about  the  floor  as  they  were  taken  out  for  his  inspection. 
The  lamps  were  lighted  before  he  came  in  again  ;  Alice 
was  upstairs  as  usual.  When  I  heard  him  coming,  I  opened 
my  book,  and  seated  myself  in  a  corner  of  a  sofa  ;  he  walked 
to  the  window  without  noticing  me,  and  drummed  on  the 
piano. 

"  Does  your  wrist  pain  you,  Charles  ?"  still  reading. 

"  A  trifle,"  adjusting  his  wristband. 

"  Do  you  often  knock  men  down  in  your  employ  ?  " 

"  When  they  deserve  it." 

"  It  is  a  generous  and  manly  sort  of  pastime." 


THE  MORGESONS.  85 

" I  am  a  generous  man  and  very  strong;  do  you  know 
that,  you  little  fool  ?  Here,  will  you  take  this  flower  ? 
There  will  be  no  more  this  year."  I  took  it  from  his  hand  ; 
it  was  a  pink,  faintly  odorous  blossom. 

"I  love  these  fragile  flowers  best,"  he  continued — "where 
I  have  to  protect  them  from  my  own  touch,  even."  He  re 
lapsed  into  forgetfulness  for  a  moment,  and  then  began  to 
study  his  memorandum  book. 

"  A  note  from  the  mills,  sir,"  said  Jesse,  "  by  one  of  the 
hands." 

"  Tell  him  to  wait." 

He  read  it,  and  threw  it  over  to  me.  It  was  from  Parker, 
who  informed  Mr.  Morgeson  that  he  was  going  by  the 
morning's  train  to  Boston,  thinking  it  was  time  for  him  to 
leave  his  employ  ;  that,  though  the  fault  was  his  own  in 
the  difficulty  of  the  day  before,  a  Yankee  could  not  stand  a 
knock-down.  It  was  too  damned  aristocratic  for  an  em 
ployer  to  have  that  privilege  ;  our  institutions  did  not  per 
mit  it.  He  thanked  Mr.  Morgeson  for  his  liberality ;  he 
couldn't  thank  him  for  being  a  good  fellow.  "And  would 
he  oblige  him  by  sending  per  bearer  the  arrears  of  salary  ? " 

"  Parker  is  in  love  with  a  factory  girl.  He  quarreled 
with  one  of  the  hands  because  he  was  jealous  of  him,  and 
would  have  been  whipped  by  the  man  and  his  friends  ;  to 
spare  him  that,  I  knocked  him  down.  Do  you  feel  better 
now,  Gassy  ? " 

"  Better  ?     How  does  it  concern  me  ? " 

He  laughed. 

"  Put  Black  Jake  in  the  wagon,"  he  called  to  Jesse. 

Alice  heard  him  and  came  downstairs  ;  we  went  out  on 
the  piazza  to  see  him  off.  "  Why  do  you  go  ? "  she  asked, 
in  an  uneasy  tone. 

"  I  must.     Wont  you  go  too  ? " 

She  refused  ;  but  whispered  to  me,  asking  if  I  were 
afraid  ? 

"Of  what?" 

"  Men  quarreling." 

"Cassandra,  will  you  go  ?  "  he  asked.  "  If  not,  I  am  off. 
Jump  in  behind,  Sam,  will  you  ?  " 

"  Go,"  said  Alice ;  and  she  ran  in  for  a  shawl,  which  she 
wrapped  round  me. 

"Alice,"  said  Charles,  "you  are  a  silly  woman." 


86  THE  MORGESONS. 

"  As  you  have  always  said,"  she  answered,  laughing. 
"  Ward  the  blows  from  him,  Cassandra." 

"  It's  a  pretty  dark  night  for  a  ride,"  remarked  Sam. 

"  I  have  rode  in  darker  ones." 

"  I  dessay,"  replied  Sam. 

"  Cover  your  hand  with  my  handkerchief,"  I  said  ;  "  the 
wind  is  cutting." 

"  Do  you  wish  it?" 

"  No,  I  do  not  wish  it ;  it  was  a  humanitary  idea  merely." 

He  refused  to  have  it  covered. 

The  air  had  a  moldy  taint,  and  the  wind  blew  the  dead 
leaves  around  us.  As  we  rode  through  the  darkness  I 
counted  the  glimmering  lights  which  flashed  across  our 
way  till  we  got  out  on  the  high-road  where  they  grew 
scarce,  and  the  wind  whistled  loud  about  our  faces.  He 
laid  his  hand  on  my  shawl.  "  It  is  too  light ;  you  will  take 
cold." 

"  No." 

We  reached  the  mills,  and  pulled  up  by  the  corner  of  a 
building,  where  a  light  shone  through  a  window. 

"  This  is  my  office.  You  must  go  in — it  is  too  chilly  for 
you  to  wait  in  the  wagon.  Hold  Jake,  Sam,  till  I  come 
back." 

I  followed  him.  In  the  farthest  corner  of  the  room  where 
we  had  seen  the  light,  behind  the  desk,  sat  Mr.  Parker,  with 
his  light  hair  rumpled,  and  a  pen  behind  his  ear. 

I  stopped  by  the  door,  while  Charles  went  to  the  desk  and 
stood  before  him  to  intercept  my  view,  but  he  could  not  help 
my  hearing  what  was  said,  though  he  spoke  low. 

"  Did  you  give  something  to  Sam,  Parker,  for  bringing 
me  your  note  at  such  a  late  hour?" 

"  Certainly,"  in  a  loud  voice. 

"He  must  be  fifty,  at  least." 

"  I  should  say  so,"  rather  lower. 

"  Well,  here  is  your  money  ;  you  had  better  stay.  I  shall 
be  devilish  sorry  for  your  father,  who  is  my  friend ;  you 
know  he  will  be  disappointed  if  you  leave ;  depend  upon 
it  he  will  guess  at  the  girl.  Of  course  you  would  like  to 
have  me  say  I  was  in  fault  about  giving  you  a  blow — as  I 
was.  Stay.  You  will  get  over  the  affair.  We  all  do.  Is 
she  handsome  ?" 

"  Beautiful,"  in  a  meek  but  enthusiastic  tone. 


THE  MORGESONS.  87 

"  That  goes,  like  the  flowers  ;  but  they  come  every  year 
again." 

"  Yes  ? " 

"  Yes,  I  say." 

"  No  ;  I'll  stay  and  see." 

Charles  turned  away. 

"  Good-evening,  Mr.  Parker,"  I  said,  stepping  forward.  I 
had  met  him  at  several  parties  at  Rosville,  but  never  at  our 
house. 

"  Excuse  me,  Miss  Morgeson  ;  I  did  not  know  you.  I 
hope  you  are  well." 

"  Come,"  said  Charles,  with  his  hand  on  the  latch. 

"  Are  you  going  to  Mrs.  Bancroft's  whist  party  on  Wed 
nesday  night,  Mr.  Parker  ?  " 

"  Yes  ;  Miss  Perkins  was  kind  enough  to  invite  me." 

"  Cassandra,  come."  And  Charles  opened  the  door.  I 
fumbled  for  the  flower  at  my  belt.  "  It's  nice  to  have  flow 
ers  so  late  ;  don't  you  think  so  ?  "  inhaling  the  fragrance  of 
my  crushed  specimens  ;  "  if  they  would  but  last.  Will  you 
have  it  ? "  stretching  it  toward  him.  He  was  about  to  take 
it,  with  a  blush,  when  Charles  struck  it  out  of  my  hand  and 
stepped  on  it. 

"  Are  you  ready  now  ?  "  he  said,  in  a  quick  voice. 

I  declared  it  was  nothing,  when  I  found  I  was  too  ill  to 
rise  the  next  morning.  At  the  end  of  three  days,  as  I  still 
felt  a  disinclination  to  get  up,  Alice  sent  for  her  physician. 
I  told  him  I  was  sleepy  and  felt  dull  pains.  He  requested 
me  to  sit  up  in  bed,  and  rapped  my  shoulders  and  chest 
with  his  knuckles,  in  a  forgetful  way. 

"  Nothing  serious,"  he  said  ;  "  but,  like  many  women,  you 
will  continue  to  do  something  to  keep  in  continual  pain. 
If  Nature  does  not  endow  your  constitution  with  suffering, 
you  will  make  up  the  loss  by  some  fatal  trifling,  which  will 
bring  it.  I  dare  say,  now,  that  after  this,  you  never  will  be 
quite  well." 

"  I  will  take  care  of  my  health." 

He  looked  into  my  face  attentively. 

"  You  wont — you  can't.  Did  you  ever  notice  your  tem 
perament  ? "  . 

"  No,  never  ;  what  is  it  ? " 

"  How  old  are  you  ?" 

"  Eighteen,  and  four  months.' 


88  THE  MORGESONS. 

"  Is  it  possible  ?  How  backward  you  are  !  You  are  quite 
interesting." 

"When  may  I  get  up  ?" 

"  Next  week  ;  don't  drink  coffee.  Remember  to  live  in 
the  day.  Avoid  stirring  about  in  the  night,  as  you  would 
avoid  Satan.  Sleep,  sleep  then,  and  you'll  make  that  beauty 
of  yours  last  longer." 

"Am  I  a  beauty?  No  living  creature  ever  said  so  be 
fore." 

"  Adipose  beauty." 

"  Fat  ? " 

"  No  ;  not  that  exactly.     Good-day." 

He  came  again,  and  asked  me  questions  concerning  my 
father  and  mother  ;  what  my  grandparents  died  of ;  and 
whether  any  of  my  family  were  strumous.  He  struck  me  as 
being  very  odd. 

My  school  friends  were  attentive,  but  I  only  admitted 
Helen  Perkins  to  see  me.  Her  liking  for  me  opened  my 
heart  still  more  toward  her.  She  was  my  first  intimate 
friend — and  my  last.  Though  younger  than  I,  she  was 
more  experienced,  and  had  already  passed  through  scenes 
I  knew  nothing  of,  which  had  sobered  her  judgment,  and 
given  her  feelings  a  practical  tinge.  She  was  noted  for 
having  the  highest  spirits  of  any  girl  in  school — another 
result  of  her  experiences.  She  never  allowed  them  to  ap 
pear  fluctuating  ;  she  was,  therefore,  an  aid  to  me,  whose 
moods  varied. 

After  my  illness  came  a  sense  of  change.  I  had  lost  that 
careless  security  in  my  strength  which  1  had  always  pos 
sessed,  and  was  troubled  with  vague  doubts,  that  made  me 
feel  I  needed  help  from  without. 

I  did  not  see  Charles  while  I  was  ill,  for  he  was  absent 
most  of  the  time.  I  knew  when  he  was  at  home  by  the  si 
lence  which  pervaded  the  premises.  When  he  was  not  there, 
Alice  spread  the  children  in  all  directions,  and  the  servants 
gave  tongue. 

He  was  not  at  home  the  day  I  went  downstairs,  and  I 
missed  him,  continually  asking  myself,  "  Why  do  I  ?  "     As 
I  sat  with  Alice  in  the  garden-room,  I  said,  "Alice."     She 
looked  up  from  her  sewing.     "  I  am  thinking  of  Charles." 
"  Yes.     He  will  be  glad  to  see  you  again." 
"  Is  he  really  related  to  me  ?  " 


THE  MORGESONS.  89 

"  He  told  you  so,  did  he  not  ?  And  his  name  certainly  is 
Morgeson." 

"  But  we  are  wholly  unlike,  are  we  not  ? " 

"  Wholly  ;  but  why  do  you  ask  ? " 

"  He  influences  me  so  strongly." 

"  Influences  you  ? "  she  echoed. 

"  Yes";  and,  with  an  effort,  "  I  believe  I  influence  him." 

"  You  are  very  handsome,"  she  said,  with  a  little  sharp 
ness.  "  So  are  flowers,"  I  said  to  myself. 

"  It  is  not  that,  Alice,"  I  answered  peevishly  ;  "  you  know 
better." 

"  You  are  peculiar,  then  ;  it  may  be  he  likes  you  for  being 
so.  He  is  odd,  you  know  ;  but  his  oddity  never  troubles 
me."  And  she  resumed  her  sewing  with  a  placid  face. 

"  Veronica  is  odd,  also,"  was  my  thought ;  "  but  oddity 
there  runs  in  a  different  direction."  Her  image  appeared 
to  me,  pale,  delicate,  unyielding.  I  seemed  to  wash  like  a 
weed  at  her  base. 

"  You  should  see  my  sister,  Alice." 

"  Charles  spoke  of  her  ;  he  says  she  plays  beautifully. 
If  you  feel  strong  next  week,  we  will  go  to  Boston,  and 
make  our  winter  purchases.  By  the  way,  I  hope  you  are 
not  nervous.  To  go  back  to  Charles,  I  have  noticed  how 
little  you  say  to  him.  You  know  he  never  talks.  The 
influence  you  speak  of — it  does  not  make  you  dislike 
him?" 

"  No  ;  I  meant  to  say — my  choice  of  words  must  be 
poor — that  it  was  possible  I  might  be  thinking  too  much 
of  him  ;  he  is  your  husband,  you  know,  though  I  do  not 
think  he  is  particularly  interesting,  or  pleasing." 

She  laughed,  as  if  highly  amused,  and  said  :  "  Well, 
about  our  dresses.  You  need  a  ball  dress,  so  do  I  ;  for  we 
shall  have  balls  this  winter,  and  if  the  children  are  well,  we 
will  go.  I  think,  too,  that  you  had  better  get  a  gray  cloth 
pelisse,  with  a  fur  trimming.  We  dress  so  much  at  church." 

"  Perhaps,"  I  said.  "  And  how  will  a  gray  hat  with  feath 
ers  look  ?  I  must  first  write  father,  and  ask  for  more 
money." 

"  Of  course  ;  but  he  allows  you  all  you  want." 

"  He  is  not  so  very  rich  ;  we  do  not  live  as  handsomely 
as  you  do." 

It  was  tea-time  when  we  had  finished  our  confab,  and 


90  THE  MORGESONS. 

Alice  sent  me  to  bed  soon  after.  I  was  comfortably  drowsy 
when  I  heard  Charles  driving  into  the  stable.  "  There  he 
is,"  I  thought,  with  a  light  heart,  for  I  felt  better  since  I 
had  spoken  to  Alice  of  him.  Her  matter-of-fact  air  had 
blown  away  the  cobwebs  that  had  gathered  across  my  fancy. 

I  saw  him  at  the  breakfast-table  the  next  morning.  He 
was  noting  something  in  his  memorandum  book,  which  ex 
cused  him  from  offering  me  his  hand  ;  but  he  spoke  kindly, 
said  he  was  glad  to  see  me,  hoped  I  was  well,  and  could 
find  a  breakfast  that  I  liked. 

"  For  some  reason  or  other,  I  do  not  eat  so  much  as  I 
did  in  Surrey." 

Alice  laughed,  and  I  blushed. 

"What  do  you  think,  Charles  ?"  she  said,  "Cassandra 
seems  worried  by  the  influence,  as  she  calls  it,  you  have 
upon  each  other." 

"  Does  she  ?  " 

He  raised  his  strange,  intense  eyes  to  mine  ;  a  blinding, 
intelligent  light  flowed  from  them  which  I  could  not  defy. 
nor  resist,  a  light  which  filled  my  veins  with  a  torrent  of  fire. 

"  You  think  Cassandra  is  not  like  you,"  he  continued  with 
a  curious  intonation. 

"  I  told  her  that  your  oddities  never  troubled  me." 

"  That  is  right." 

"To-day,"  I  muttered,  "  Alice,  I  shall  go  back  to  school." 

"  You  must  ride,"  she  answered. 

"Jesse  will  drive  you  up,"  said  Charles,  rising.  Alice 
called  him  back,  to  tell  him  her  plan  of  the  Boston  visit. 

"  Certainly  ;  go  by  all  means,"  he  said,  and  went  on 
his  way. 

I  made  my  application  to  father,  telling  him  I  had  nothing 
to  wear.  He  answered  with  haste,  begging  me  to  clothe 
myself  at  once. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

IT  was  November  when  we  returned  from  Boston.     One 
morning  when  the  frost  sparkled  on  the  dead  leaves, 
which  still  dropped  on  the  walks,  Helen  Perkins  and  I 
were  taking  a  stroll  down  Silver  Street,  behind  the  Academy, 
when  we  saw  Dr.  White  coming  down  the  street  in  his  sulky, 


THE  MORGESONS.  91 

rocking  from  side  to  side  like  a  cradle.  He  stopped  when 
he  came  up  to  us. 

"  Do  ye  sit  up  late  of  evenings,  Miss  Morgeson  ? " 

"  No,  Doctor  ;  only  once  a  week  or  so." 

"  You  are  a  case."  And  he  meditatively  pulled  his  shaggy 
whiskers  with  a  loose  buckskin  glove.  "  There's  a  ripple 
coming  under  your  eyes  already  ;  what  did  I  tell  you  ?  Let 
me  see,  did  you  say  you  were  like  father  or  mother  ?  " 

"  I  look  like  my  father.  By  the  way,  Doctor,  I  am  study 
ing  my  temperament.  You  will  make  an  infidel  of  me  by 
your  inquiries." 

Helen  laughed,  and  staring  at  him,  called  him  a  bear,  and 
told  him  he  ought  to  live  in  a  hospital,  where  he  would  have 
plenty  of  sick  women  to  tease. 

"  I  should  find  few  like  you  there." 

He  chirruped  to  his  horse,  but  checked  it  again,  put  out 
his  head  and  called,  "  Keep  your  feet  warm,  wont  you  ? 
And  read  Shakespeare." 

Helen  said  that  Dr.  White  had  been  crossed  in  love,  and 
long  after  had  married  a  deformed  woman — for  science's 
sake,  perhaps.  His  talent  was  well  known  out  of  Rosville  ; 
but  he  was  unambitious  and  eccentric. 

"  He  is  interested  in  you,  Cass,  that  I  see.  Are  you  quite 
well  ?  What  about  the  change  you  spoke  of  ? " 

"  Dr.  White  has  theories  ;  he  has  attached  one  to  me. 
Nature  has  adjusted  us  nicely,  he  thinks,  with  fine  strings  ; 
if  we  laugh  too  much,  or  cry  too  long,  a  knot  slips  some 
where,  which  'all  the  king's  men'  can't  take  up  again. 
Perhaps  he  judges  women  by  his  deformed  wife.  Men  do 
judge  that  way,  I  suppose,  and  then  pride  themselves  on 
their  experience,  commencing  their  speeches  about  us,  with 
'  you  women.'  I'll  answer  your  question,  though, — there's 
a  blight  creeping  over  me,  or  a  mildew." 

"  Is  there  a  worm  i'  the  bud  ?" 

"  There  may  be  one  at  the  root ;  my  top  is  green  and 
flourishing,  isn't  it?" 

"  You  expect  to  be  in  a  state  of  beatitude  always.  What 
is  a  mote  of  dust  in  another's  eye,  in  yours  is  a  cataract. 
You  are  mad  at  your  blindness,  and  fight  the  air  because 
you  can't  see." 

"I  feel  that  I  see  very  little,  especially  when  I  understand 
the  clearness  of  your  vision.  Your  good  sense  is  monstrous." 


9 2  THE  MORGESONS. 

"  It  will  come  right  somehow,  with  you  ;  when  twenty 
years  are  wasted,  maybe,"  she  answered  sadly.  "  There's 
the  first  bell !  I  haven't  a  word  yet  of  my  rhetoric  lesson," 
opening  her  book  and  chanting,  "'Man,  thou  pendulum 
betwixt  a  smile  and  tear.'  Are  you  going  to  Professor 
Simpson's  class  ?"  shutting  it  again.  "I  know  the  new 
dance  ";  and  she  began  to  execute  it  on  the  walk.  The 
door  of  a  house  opposite  us  opened,  and  a  tall  youth  came 
out,  hat  in  hand.  Without  evincing  surprise,  he  advanced 
toward  Helen,  gravely  dancing  the  same  step  ;  they  finished 
the  figure  with  unmoved  countenances.  "  Come  now,"  I 
said,  taking  her  arm.  He  then  made  a  series  of  bows  to  us, 
retreating  to  the  house,  with  his  face  toward  us,  till  he 
reached  the  door  and  closed  it.  He  was  tall  and  stout, 
with  red  hair,  and  piercing  black  eyes,  and  looked  about 
twenty-three.  "  Who  can  that  be,  Helen  ?  " 

"  A  stranger ;  probably  some  young  man  come  to  Dr. 
Price,  or  a  law  student.  He  is  new  here,  at  all  events.  His 
is  not  an  obscure  face  ;  if  it  had  been  seen,  we  should  have 
known  it." 

"  We  shall  meet  him,  then." 

And  we  did,  the  very  next  day,  which  was  Wednesday, 
in  the  hall,  where  we  went  to  hear  the  boys  declaim.  I  saw 
him,  sitting  by  himself  in  a  chair,  instead  of  being  with  the 
classes.  He  was  in  a  brown  study,  unaware  that  he  was 
observed  ;  both  hands  were  in  his  pockets,  and  his  legs 
were  stretched  out  till  his  pantaloons  had  receded  up  his 
boots,  whose  soles  he  knocked  together,  oblivious  of  the 
noise  they  made.  In  spite  of  his  red  hair,  I  thought  him 
handsome,  with  his  Roman  nose  and  firm,  clefted  chin. 
Helen  and  I  were  opposite  him  at  the  lower  part  of  the  hall, 
but  he  did  not  see  us,  till  the  first  boy  mounted  the  plat 
form,  and  began  to  spout  one  of  Cicero's  orations  ;  then  he 
looked  up,  and  a  smile  spread  over  his  face.  He  withdrew 
his  hands  from  his  pockets,  updrew  his  legs,  and  surveyed 
the  long  row  of  girls  opposite,  beginning  at  the  head  of  the 
hall.  As  his  eyes  reached  us,  a  flash  of  recognition  shot 
across  ;  he  raised  his  hand  as  if  to  salute  us,  and  I  noticed 
that  it  was  remarkably  handsome,  small  and  white,  and 
ornamented  with  an  old-fashioned  ring.  It  was  our  habit, 
after  the  exercises  were  over,  to  gather  round  Dr.  Price,  to 
exchange  a  few  words  with  him.  And  this  occasion  was 


THE  MORGESONS.  93 

no  exception,  for  Dr.  Price,  with  his  double  spectacles,  and 
his  silk  handkerchief  in  his  hand,  was  answering  our  ques 
tions,  when  feeling  a  touch,  he  stopped,  turned  hastily,  and 
saw  the  stranger. 

"  Will  you  be  so  good  as  to  introduce  me  to  the  two 
young  ladies  near  you  ?  We  have  met  before,  but  I  do  not 
know  their  names." 

"  Ah,"  said  the  Doctor,  taking  off  his  spectacles  and 
wiping  them  leisurely  ;  then  raising  his  voice,  said,  "  Miss 
Cassandra  Morgeson  and  Miss  Helen  Perkins,  Mr.  Ben 
Somers,  of  Belem,  requests  me  to  present  him  to  you.  I 
add  the  information  that  he  is,  although  a  senior,  suspended 
from  Harvard  College,  for  participating  in  a  disgraceful 
fight.  It  is  at  your  option  to  notice  him." 

"  If  he  would  be  kind  enough,"  said  Mr.  Somers,  moving 
toward  us,  "to  say  that  I  won  it." 

"  With  such  hands  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  Oh,  Somers,"  interposed  the  Doctor,  "  have  you  much 
knowledge  of  the  Bellevue  Pickersgills'  pedigree  ?  " 

"  Certainly  ;  my  grandpa,  Desmond  Pickersgill,  although 
he  came  to  this  country  as  a  cabin  boy,  was  brother  to  an 
English  earl.  This  is  our  coat  of  arms,"  showing  the  ring 
he  wore. 

"  That  is  a  great  fact,"  answered  the  Doctor. 

"  This  lad,"  addressing  me,  "  belongs  to  the  family  I 
spoke  of  to  you,  a  member  of  which  married  one  of  your 
name." 

"  Is  it  possible  ?  I  never  heard  much  of  my  father's 
family." 

"  No,"  said  the  Doctor  dryly  ;  "  Somers  has  no  coat  of 
arms.  I  expected,  when  I  asked  you,  to  hear  that  the 
Pickergills'  history  was  at  your  fingers'  ends." 

"  Only  above  the  second  joint  of  the  third  finger  of  my 
left  hand." 

I  thought  Dr.  Price  was  embarrassing. 

"Is  your  family  from  Troy?"  Mr.  Somers  asked  me,  in 
a  low  tone. 

"  Do  you  dislike  my  name  ?  Is  that  of  Veronica  a  better 
one?  It  is  my  sister's,  and  we  were  named  by  our  great 
grandfather,  who  married  a  Somers,  a  hundred  years  ago." 

Miss  Black,  my  Barmouth  teacher,  came  into  my  mind, 
for  I  had  said  the  same  thing  to  her  in  my  first  interview ; 


94  THE  MORGESONS. 

but  I  was  recalled  from  my  wandering  by  Mr.  Somers 
asking,  "  Are  you  looking  for  your  sister  ?  Far  be  it  from 
me  to  disparage  any  act  of  your  great-grandfather's,  but  I 
prefer  the  name  of  Veronica,  and  fancy  that  the  person  to 
whom  the  name  belongs  has  a  narrow  face,  with  eyes  near 
together,  and  a  quantity  of  light  hair,  which  falls  straight ; 
that  she  has  long  hands  ;  is  fond  of  Gothic  architecture, 
and  has  a  will  of  her  own." 

"  But  never  dances,"  said  Helen. 

There  was  a  whist  party  at  somebody's  house  every 
Wednesday  evening.  Alice  had  selected  the  present  for 
one,  and  had  invited  more  than  the  usual  number.  I  asked 
Mr.  Somers  to  come. 

'  Dress  coat  ?  "  he  inquired. 

'  Oh,  no." 

'  Is  Rosville  highly  starched  ?" 

'  Oh,  no." 

'  I'll  be  sure  to  go  into  society,  then,  as  long  as  I  can  go 
limp." 

He  bowed,  and,  retiring  with  Dr.  Price,  walked  through 
the  green  with  him,  perusing  the  ground. 

I  wore  a  dark  blue  silk  for  the  party,  with  a  cinnamon- 
colored  satin  stripe  through  it  ;  a  dress  that  Alice  super 
vised.  She  fastened  a  pair  of  pearl  ear-rings  in  my  ears, 
and  told  me  that  I  never  looked  better.  It  was  the  first 
time  since  grandfather's  death  that  I  had  worn  any  dress 
except  a  black  one.  My  short  sleeves  were  puffed  velvet, 
and  a  lace  tucker  was  drawn  with  a  blue  ribbon  across  the 
corsage.  As  I  adjusted  my  dress,  a  triumphant  sense  of 
beauty  possessed  me  ;  Cleopatra  could  not  have  been  more 
convinced  of  her  charms  than  I  was  of  mine.  "  It  is  a 
pleasant  thing,"  I  thought,  "  that  a  woman's  mind  may  come 
and  go  by  the  gate  Beautiful." 

I  went  down  before  Alice,  who  stayed  with  the  children 
till  she  heard  the  first  ring  at  the  door. 

"  Where  is  Charles?"  I  asked,  after  we  had  greeted  the 
Bancrofts. 

"  He  will  come  in  time  to  play,  for  he  likes  whist ;  do 
you  ? 

"  No." 

TVe  did  not  speak  again,  but  I  noticed  how  gay  and 
agreeable  she  was  through  the  evening. 


THE  MORGESONS.  95 

Ben  Somers  came  early,  suffering  from  a  fit  of  noncha 
lance,  to  the  disgust  of  several  young  men,  standard  beaux, 
who  regarded  him  with  an  impertinence  which  delighted 
him. 

"  Here  comes,"  he  said,  " '  a  daughter  of  the  gods,  di 
vinely  tall,  and  most  divinely  fair.' "  Meaning  me,  which 
deepened  their  disgust. 

"  Come  to  the  piano,"  I  begged.  Helen  was  there,  but 
his  eyes  did  not  rest  upon  her,  but  upon  Charles,  whom  I 
saw  for  the  first  time  that  evening.  I  introduced  them. 

"  Cassandra,"  said  Charles,  "  let  us  make  up  a  game  in 
the  East  Room.  Miss  Helen,  will  you  join  ?  Mr.  Somers, 
will  you  take  a  hand  ?  " 

"  Certainly.     Miss  Morgeson,  will  you  be  my  partner  ? " 

"  Will  you  play  with  me  then,  Miss  Helen  ? "  asked 
Charles. 

"  If  you  desire  it,"  she  answered,  rather  ungraciously. 

We  took  our  seats  in  the  East  Room,  which  opened  from 
the  parlor,  at  a  little  table  by  the  chimney.  The  astral 
lamp  from  the  center  table  in  the  parlor  shone  into  our 
room,  intercepting  any  view  toward  us.  I  sat  by  the  win 
dow,  the  curtain  of  which  was  drawn  apart,  and  the  shut 
ters  unclosed.  A  few  yellow  leaves  stuck  against  the  panes, 
unstirred  by  the  melancholy  wind,  which  sighed  through 
the  crevices.  Charles  was  at  my  right  hand,  by  the  man 
tel  ;  the  light  from  a  candelabra  illuminated  him  and  Mr. 
Somers,  while  Helen  and  I  were  in  shadow.  Mr.  Somers 
dealt  the  cards,  and  we  began  the  game. 

"  We  shall  beat  you,"  he  said  to  Charles. 

"  Not  unless  Cassandra  has  improved,"  he  replied. 

I  promised  to  do  my  best,  but  soon  grew  weary,  and  we 
were  beaten.  To  my  surprise  Mr.  Somers  was  vexed. 
His  imperturbable  manner  vanished  ;  he  sat  erect,  his  eyes 
sparkled,  and  he  told  me  I  must  play  better.  We  began 
another  game,  which  he  was  confident  of  winning.  I  kept 
my  eyes  on  the  cards,  and  there  was  silence  till  Mr.  Somers 
exclaimed,  "  Don't  trump  now,  Mr.  Morgeson." 

I  watched  the  table  for  his  card  to  fall,  but  as  it  did  not, 
looked  at  him  for  the  reason.  He  had  forgotten  us,  and 
was  lost  in  contemplation,  with  his  eyes  fixed  upon  me. 
The  recognition  of  some  impulse  had  mastered  him.  I 
must  prevent  Helen  and  Mr.  Somers  perceiving  this !  I 


96  THE  MORGESONS. 

shuffled  the  cards  noisily,  rustled  my  dress,  looked  right 
and  left  for  my  handkerchief  to  break  the  spell. 

"  How  the  wind  moans  !  "  said  Helen.  I  understood  her 
tone  ;  she  understood  him,  as  I  did. 

"  I  like  Rosville,  Miss  Perkins,"  cried  Mr.  Somers. 

"Do  you?"  said  Charles,  clicking  down  his  card,  as  though 
his  turn  had  just  come.  "I  must  trump  this  in  spite  of  you." 

"  I  am  tired  of  playing,"  I  said. 

"  We  are  beaten,  Miss  Perkins,"  said  Mr.  Somers,  rising. 
"  Bring  it  here,"  to  a  servant  going  by  with  a  tray  and 
glasses.  He  drank  a  goblet  of  wine,  before  he  offered  us 
any.  "  Now  give  us  music  !  "  offering  his  arm  to  Helen, 
and  taking  her  away.  Charles  and  I  remained  at  the  table. 
"  By  the  way,"  he  said  abruptly,  "  I  have  forgotten  to  give 
you  a  letter  from  your  father — here  it  is."  I  stretched  my 
hand  across  the  table,  he  retained  it.  I  rose  from  my  chair 
and  stood  beside  him. 

"  Cassandra,"  he  said  at  last,  growing  ashy  pale,  "  is 
there  any  other  world  than  this  we  are  in  now  ?  " 

I  raised  my  eyes,  and  saw  my  own  pale  face  in  the  glass 
over  the  mantel  above  his  head. 

"  What  do  you  see  ?  "  he  asked,  starting  up. 

I  pointed  to  the  glass. 

"  I  begin  to  think,"  I  said,  "  there  is  another  world,  one 
peopled  with  creatures  like  those  we  see  there.  What  are 
they — base,  false,  cowardly  ?  " 

"  Cowardly,"  he  muttered,  "  will  you  make  me  crush  you  ? 
Can  we  lie  to  each  other  ?  Look  !  " 

He  turned  me  from  the  glass. 

At  that  moment  Helen  struck  a  crashing  blow  on  the 
piano  keys. 

"  Charles,  give  me — give  me  the  letter." 

He  looked  vaguely  round  the  floor,  it  was  crumpled  in 
his  hand.  Aside  door  shut,  and  I  stood  alone.  Pinch 
ing  my  cheeks  and  wiping  my  lips  to  force  the  color  back, 
I  returned  to  the  parlor.  Mr.  Somers  came  to  me  with  a 
glass  of  wine.  It  was  full,  and  some  spilled  on  my  dress  ; 
he  made  no  offer  to  wipe  it  off.  After  that,  he  devoted 
himself  to  Alice  ;  talked  lightly  with  her,  observing  her 
closely.  I  made  the  tour  of  the  party,  overlooked  the 
whist  players,  chatted  with  the  talkers,  finally  taking  a 
seat,  where  Helen  joined  me. 


THE  MORGESONS.  97 

"  Now  I  am  going,"  she  said. 

"  Why  don't  they  all  go  ?  " 

"  Look  at  Mr.  Somers  playing  the  agreeable  to  Mrs.  Mor- 
geson.  What  kind  of  a  woman  is  she,  Cass  ?  " 

"  Go  and  learn  for  yourself." 

"  I  fear  I  have  not  the  gift  for  divining  people  that  you 
have." 

"  Do  you  hear  the  wind  moan  now,  Helen  ? " 

She  turned  crimson,  and  said  :  "  Let  us  go  to  the  win 
dow  ;  I  think  it  rains." 

We  stood  within  the  curtains,  and  listened  to  its  patter- 
ing  on  the  floor  of  the  piazza,  and  trickling  down  the  glass 
like  tears. 

"  Helen,  if  one  could  weep  as  quietly  as  this  rain  falls, 
and  keep  the  face  as  unwrinkled  as  the  glass,  it  would  be 
pretty  to  weep." 

'  Is  it  hard  for  you  to  cry  ?  " 

'  I  can't  remember  ;  it  is  so  long  since." 

VI  y  ear  caught  the  sound  of  a  step  on  the  piazza. 

'  Who  is  that  ?  "  she  asked. 

'It  is  a  man." 

'  Morgeson  ? " 

'  Morgeson." 

'  Cassandra  ? " 

'  Cassandra." 

'  I  can  cry,"  and  Helen  covered  her  face. 

'  Cry  away,  then.  Give  me  a  fierce  shower  of  tears,  with 
thunder  and  lightning  between,  if  you  like.  Don't  sop, 
and  soak,  and  drizzle." 

The  step  came  close  to  the  window ;  it  was  not  in  har 
mony  with  the  rain  and  darkness,  but  with  the  hot  beating 
of  my  heart. 

"  We  are  breaking  up,"  called  Mr.  Somers.  "  Mr.  Ban 
croft's  carriage  is  ready,  I  am  bid  to  say.  It  is  inky  out 
side." 

"Yes,"  said  Helen,  "  I  am  quite  ready." 

"  There  are  a  dozen  chaises  in  the  yard  ;  Mr.  Morgeson 
is  there,  and  lanterns.  He  is  at  home  among  horses,  I 
believe." 

"  Do  you  like  horses?"  I  asked. 

"  Not  in  the  least." 

Somebody  called  Helen. 


98  THE  MORGESONS. 

"  Good-night,  Cass." 

"  Good-night ;  keep  out  of  the  rain." 

"  Good-night,  Miss  Morgeson,"  said  Mr.  Somers,  when 
she  had  gone.  "  Good-night  and  good-morning.  My  ac 
quaintance  with  you  has  begun  ;  it  will  never  end.  You 
thought  me  a  boy  ;  I  am  just  your  age." 

"  '  Never,'  is  a  long  word,  Boy  Somers." 

"It  is." 

It  rained  all  night ;  I  wearied  of  its  monotonous  fall ; 
if  I  slept  it  turned  into  a  voice  which  was  pent  up  in  a  let 
ter  which  I  could  not  open. 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

A  LICE  was  unusually  gay  the  next  morning.  She  praised 
£\  Mr.  Somers,  and  could  not  imagine  what  had  been  the 
cause  of  his  being  expelled  from  the  college. 

"  Don't  you  like  him,  Cassandra  ?  His  family  are  unex 
ceptionable." 

"  So  is  he,  I  believe,  except  in  his  fists.  But  how  did  you 
learn  that  his  family  were  unexceptionable  ?" 

"  Charles  inquired  in  Boston,  and  heard  that  his  mother 
was  one  of  the  greatest  heiresses  in  Belem." 

"  Did  you  enjoy  last  night,  Alice  ?  " 

"  Yes,  I  am  fond  of  whist  parties.  You  noticed  that 
Charles  has  not  a  remarkable  talent  that  way.  Did  he 
speak  to  Mr.  Somers  at  all,  while  you  played  ?  I  was  too 
busy  to  come  in.  By  the  by,  I  must  go  now,  and  see  if  the 
parlor  is  in  order." 

I  followed  her  with  my  bonnet  in  hand,  for  it  was  school 
time.  She  looked  about,  then  went  up  to  the  mantel,  and 
taking  out  the  candle-ends  from  the  candelabra,  looked 
in  the  glass,  and  said,  "I  am  a  fright  this  morning." 

"Am  I  ? "  I  asked  over  her  shoulder,  for  I  was  nearly  a 
head  taller. 

"  No  ;  you  are  too  young  to  look  jaded  in  the  morning. 
Your  eyes  are  as  clear  as  a  child's  ;  and  how  blue  they  are." 

"  Mild  and  babyish-like,  are  they  not  ?  almost  green 
with  innocence.  But  Charles  has  devilish  eyes,  don't  you 
think  so  ? " 


THE  MORGESONS.  99 

She  turned  with  her  mouth  open  in  astonishment,  and  her 
hand  full  of  candle-ends.  "  Cassandra  Morgeson,  are  you 
mad  ? " 

"  Good-by,"  Alice. 

I  only  saw  Mr.  Somers  at  prayers  during  the  following 
fortnight.  But  in  that  short  time  he  made  many  acquaint 
ances.  Helen  told  me  that  he  had  decided  to  study  law 
with  Judge  Ryder,  and  that  he  had  asked  her  how  long  I 
expected  to  stay  in  Rosville.  Nothing  eccentric  had  been 
discovered  in  his  behavior  ;  but  she  was  convinced  that  he 
would  astonish  us  before  long.  The  first  Wednesday  after 
our  party,  I  was  absent  from  the  elocutionary  exercise  ; 
but  the  second  came  round,  and  I  took  my  place  as  usual 
beside  Helen. 

"  This  will  be  Mr.  Somers's  first  and  last  appearance  on 
our  stage,"  she  whispered  ;  "  some  whim  prompts  him  to 
come  to-day." 

He  delighted  Dr.  Price  by  translating  from  the  Agamem 
non  of  ^Eschylus. 

"  Re-enter  Clytemnestra. 
"Men!     Citizens  !  ye  Elders  of  Argos  present  here" 

"  Who  was  Agamemnon  ?  "  I  whispered. 

"  He  gave  Cassandra  her  last  ride." 

"  Did  he  upset  her?" 

"  Study  Greek  and  you  will  know,"  she  replied,  frowning 
at  him  as  he  stepped  from  the  platform. 

We  went  to  walk  in  Silver  Street  after  school,  and  he 
joined  us. 

"  Do  you  read  Greek  ?  "  he  asked  her. 

"  My  father  is  a  Greek  Professor,  and  he  made  me  study 
it  when  I  was  a  little  girl." 

"  The  name  of  Cassandra  inspired  me  to  rub  up  my 
knowledge  of  the  tragedies." 

Helen  and  he  had  a  Homeric  talk,  while  I  silently  walked 
by  them,  thinking  that  Cassandra  would  have  suited  Veron 
ica,  and  that  no  name  suited  me.  From  some  reason  I 
did  not  discover,  Helen  began  to  loiter,  pretending  that  she 
wanted  to  have  a  look  at  the  clouds.  But  when  I  looked 
back  her  head  was  bent  to  the  ground.  Mr.  Somers  offered 
to  carry  my  books. 


loo  THE  MORGESONS. 

"  Carry  Helen's  ;  she  is  smaller  than  I  am." 

"Confound  Helen!" 

"And  the  books,  too,  if  you  like.  Helen,"  I  called,  "why 
do  you  loiter?  It  is  time  for  dinner.  We  must  go  home." 

"  I  am  quite  ready  for  my  dinner,"  she  replied.  "  Wont 
you  come  to  our  house  this  afternoon  and  take  tea  with  me  ?" 

"  Oh,  Miss  Perkins,  do  invite  me  also,"  he  begged.  "  I 
want  to  bring  Tennyson  to  you." 

"  Is  he  related  to  Agamemnon  ?  "  I  asked. 

"I'll  ask  Mrs.  Bancroft  if  I  may  invite  you, "said  Helen, 
"  if  you  are  sure  that  you  would  like  a  stupid,  family  tea." 

"  I  am  positive  that  I  should.  Tennyson,  though  an  emi 
nent  Grecian,  is  not  related  to  the  person  you  spoke  of." 

We  parted  at  the  foot  of  Silver  Street,  with  the  expecta 
tion  of  meeting  before  night.  Helen  sent  me  word  not  to 
fail,  as  she  had  sent  for  Mr.  Somers,  and  that  Mrs.  Bancroft 
was  already  preparing  tea.  Alice  drove  down  there  with 
me,  to  call  on  Mrs.  Bancroft.  The  two  ladies  compared 
children,  and  by  the  time  Alice  was  ready  to  go,  Mr.  Somers 
arrived.  She  staid  a  few  moments  more  to  chat  with  him, 
and  when  she  went  at  last,  told  me  Charles  would  come  for 
me  on  his  way  from  the  mills. 

My  eyes  wandered  in  the  direction  of  Mr.  Somers.  His 
said  :  "  No  ;  go  home  with  me." 

"  Very  well,  Alice,  whatever  is  convenient,"  I  answered 
quietly. 

Mrs.  Bancroft  was  a  motherly  woman,  and  Mr.  Bancroft 
was  a  fatherly  man.  Five  children  sat  round  the  tea-table, 
distinguished  by  the  Bancroft  nose.  Helen  and  I  were 
seated  each  side  of  Mr.  Somers.  The  table  reminded  me  of 
our  table  at  Surrey,  it  was  so  covered  with  vast  viands  ;  but 
the  dishes  were  alike,  and  handsome.  I  wondered  whether 
mother  had  bought  the  new  china  in  Boston,  and,  buttering 
my  second  hot  biscuit,  I  thought  of  Veronica  ;  then,  of  the 
sea.  How  did  it  look?  Hark!  Its  voice  was  in  my  ear  ! 
Could  I  climb  the  housetop  ?  Might  I  not  see  the  mist 
which  hung  over  our  low-lying  sea  by  Surrey? 

"  Will  you  take  quince  or  apple  jelly,  Miss  Morgeson  ?  " 
asked  Mrs.  Bancroft. 

"  Apple,  if  you  please." 

"  Do  you  write  that  sister  of  yours  often  ? "  asked  Mr. 
Somers,  as  he  passed  me  the  apple  jelly. 


L- 


THE  MORGE&WST  101 


"I  never  write  her." 

"  Will  you  tell  me  something  of  Surrey  ?  " 

"  Mr.  Somers,  shall  1  give  you  a  cup-custard^?  " 

"  No,  thank  you,  mam." 

"  Surrey  is  lonely,  evangelical,  primitive." 

"  Belem  is  dreary  too  ;  most  of  it  goes  to  Boston,  or  to 
India." 

"  Does  it  smell  of  sandal  wood  ?  And  has  everybody  tea- 
caddies  ?  Vide  Indian  stories." 

"  We  have  a  crate  of  queer  things  from  Calcutta." 

"Are  you  going  to  study  law  with  Judge  Ryder?  "Mr. 
Bancroft  inquired. 

"  I  think  so." 

Then  Helen  pushed  back  her  chair  ;  and  Mrs.  Bancroft 
stood  in  her  place  long  enough  for  us  to  reach  the  parlor  door. 

"  And  I  must  go  to  the  office,"  Mr.  Bancroft  said,  so  we 
had  the  parlor  to  ourselves  ;  but  Mr.  Somers  did  not  read 
from  Tennyson  —  for  he  had  forgotten  to  bring  the  book. 

"  Now  for  a  compact,"  he  said.  "  I  must  be  called  Ben 
Somers  by  you  ;  and  may  I  call  you  Cassandra,  and 
Helen?" 

"Yes,"  we  answered. 

"  Let  us  be  confidential." 

And  we  were.  I  was  drawn  into  speaking  of  my  life  at 
home  ;  my  remarks,  made  without  premeditation,  proved 
that  I  possessed  ideas  and  feelings  hitherto  unknown.  I 
felt  no  shyness  before  him,  and,  although  I  saw  his  interest 
in  me,  no  agitation.  Helen  was  also  moved  to  tell  us  that 
she  was  engaged.  She  rolled  up  her  sleeve  to  show  us  a 
bracelet,  printed  in  ink  on  her  arm,  with  the  initials,"  L.N." 
Those  of  her  cousin,  she  said  ;  he  was  a  sailor,  and  some 
time,  she  supposed,  they  would  marry. 

"  How  could  you  consent  to  have  your  arm  so  defaced  ?  " 
I  asked. 

Her  eyes  flashed  as  she  replied  that  she  had  not  looked 
upon  the  mark  in  that  light  before. 

"  We  may  all  be  tattooed,"  said  Mr.  Somers. 

"  I  am,"  I  thought. 

He  told  us  in  his  turn  that  he  should  be  rich.  "There 
are  five  of  us.  My  mother's  fortune  cuts  up  rather  ;  but  it 
wont  be  divided  till  the  youngest  is  twenty-one.  I  assure 
you  we  are  impatient." 


102  THE  MORGESONS. 

"Some  one  of  your  family  happened  to  marry  a  Morge- 
son,"  I  here  remarked. 

"I  wrote  father  about  that ;  he  must  know  the  circum 
stance,  though  he  never  has  a  chance  to  expatiate  on  his  side 
of  the  house.  Poor  man  !  he  has  the  gout,  and  passes  his 
time  in  experiments  with  temperature  and  diet.  Will  you 
ever  visit  Belem  ?  I  shall  certainly  go  to  Surrey." 

Mrs.  Bancroft  interrupted  us,  and  soon  after  Mr.  Ban 
croft  arrived,  redolent  of  smoke.  Ten  o'clock  came,  and 
nobody  for  me.  At  half-past  ten  I  put  on  my  shawl  to  walk 
home,  when'Charles  drove  up  to  the  gate. 

"  Say,"  said  Ben  Somers,  in  a  low  voice,  "  that  you  will 
walk  with  me." 

"  I  am  not  too  late,  Cassandra?  "  called  Charles,  coming 
up  the  steps,  bowing  to  all.  "  I  am  glad  you  are  ready  ; 
Nell  is  impatient." 

"  My  dear,"  asked  Mrs.  Bancroft,  "  how  dare  you  trust  to 
the  mercy  of  such  vicious  beasts  as  Mr.  Morgeson  loves  to 
drive  ? " 

"  Come,"  he  said,  touching  my  arm. 

"  Wont  you  walk  ?  "  said  Mr.  Somers  aloud. 

"  Walk  ? "  echoed  Charles.     "  No." 

"I  followed  him.  Nell  had  already  bitten  off  a  paling; 
and  as  he  untied  her  he  boxed  her  ears.  She  did  not  jump, 
for  she  knew  the  hand  that  struck  her.  We  rushed  swiftly 
away  through  the  long  shadows  of  the  moonlight. 

"  Charles,  what  did  Ben  Somers  do  at  Harvard  ?  " 

"He  was  in  a  night-fight,  and  he  sometimes  got  drunk  ;  it 
is  a  family  habit." 

"  Pray,  why  did  you  inquire  about  him  ? " 

"  From  the  interest  I  feel  in  him." 

"You  like  him,  then?" 

"  I  detest  him  ;  do  you  too  ? " 

"  I  like  him." 

He  bent  down  and  looked  into  my  face. 

"  You  are  telling  me  a  lie." 

I  made  no  reply. 

"  I  should  beg  your  pardon,  but  I  will  not.  I  am  going 
away  to-morrow.  Give  me  your  hand,  and  say  farewell." 

"  Farewell  then.  Is  Alice  up  ?  I  see  a  light  moving  in 
her  chamber." 

"  If  you  do,  she  is  not  waiting  for  me." 


THE  MORGESONS.  103 

"  I  have  been  making  coffee  for  you,"  she  said,  as  soon  as 
we  entered,  "  in  my  French  biggin.  I  have  packed  your 
valise  too,  Charles,  and  have  ordered  your  breakfast.  Gassy, 
we  will  breakfast  after  he  has  gone." 

"  I  have  to  sit  up  to  write,  Alice.  See  that  the  horses  are 
exercised.  Ask  Parker  to  drive  them.  The  men  will  be 
here  to-morrow  to  enlarge  the  conservatory." 

"  Yes." 

"  I  shall  get  a  better  stock  while  I  am  away." 

I  sipped  my  coffee  ;  Alice  yawned  fearfully,  with  her  hand 
on  the  coffee-pot,  ready  to  pour  again.  "  Why,  Charles," 
she  exclaimed,  "  there  is  no  cream  in  your  coffee." 

"  No,  there  isn't,"  looking  into  his  cup  ;  "  nor  sugar." 

She  threw  a  lump  at  him,  which  he  caught,  laughing  one 
of  his  abrupt  laughs. 

"How  extraordinarily  affectionate,"  I  thought,  but  some 
how  it  pleased  me. 

"  Why  do  you  tempt  me,  Alice  ?  "  I  said.  "  Doctor  White 
says  I  must  not  drink  coffee." 

"  Tempted  !"  Charles  exclaimed.  "Cassandra  is  never 
tempted.  What  she  does,  she  does  because  she  will.  Don't 
worry  yourself,  Alice,  about  her." 

"  Because  I  will,"  I  repeated. 

A  nervous  foreboding  possessed  me,  the  moment  I  en 
tered  my  room.  Was  it  the  coffee  ?  Twice  in  the  night  I 
lighted  my  candle,  looked  at  the  little  French  clock  on  the 
mantel,  and  under  the  bed.  At  last  I  fell  asleep,  but  start 
ing  violently  from  its  oblivious  dark,  to  become  aware  that 
the  darkness  of  the  room  was  sentient.  A  breath  passed 
over  my  face ;  but  I  caught  no  sound,  though  I  held  my 
breath  to  listen  for  one.  I  moved  my  hands  before  me  then, 
but  they  came  in  contact  with  nothing.  My  forebodings 
passed  away,  and  I  slept  till  Alice  sent  for  me.  I  sat  up  in 
bed  philosophizing,  and  examining  the  position  of  the 
chairs,  the  tops  of  the  tables  and  the  door.  No  change  had 
taken  place.  But  my  eyes  happened  to  fall  on  my  handker 
chief,  which  had  dropped  by  the  bedside.  I  picked  it  up  ; 
there  was  a  dusty  footprint  upon  it.  The  bell  rang,  and, 
throwing  it  under  the  bed,  I  dressed  and  ran  down.  Alice 
was  taking  breakfast,  tired  of  waiting.  She  said  the  baby 
had  cried  till  after  midnight,  and  that  Charles  never  came 
to  bed  at  all. 


104  THE  MORGESONS. 

"Do  eat  this  hot  toast ;  it  has  just  come  in." 

"  I  shall  stay  at  home  to-day,  Alice,  I  feel  chilly ;  is  it 
cold  ? " 

"  You  must  have  a  fire  in  your  room." 

"  Let  me  have  one  to  day  ;  I  should  like  to  sit  there." 

She  gave  orders  for  the  fire,  and  went  herself  to  see  that 
it  burned.  Soon  I  was  sitting  before  it,  my  feet  on  a  stool, 
and  a  poker  in  my  hand  with  which  I  smashed  the  smoky 
lumps  of  coal  which  smoldered  in  the  grate. 

I  stayed  there  all  day,  looking  out  of  the  window  when  I 
heard  the  horses  tramp  in  the  stable  or  a  step  on  the 
piazza.  It  was  a  dull  November  day  ;  the  atmosphere  was 
glutinous  with  a  pale  mist,  which  made  the  leaves  stick 
together  in  bunches,  helplessly  cumbering  the  ground.  The 
boughs  dropped  silent  tears  over  them,  under  the  gray,  piti 
less  sky.  I  read  Byron,  which  was  the  only  book  in  the 
house,  I  believe  ;  for  neither  Charles  nor  Alice  read  any 
thing  except  the  newspapers.  I  looked  over  my  small 
stores  also,  and  my  papers,  which  consisted  of  father's  let 
ters.  As  I  was  sorting  them  the  thought  struck  me  of  writ 
ing  to  Veronica,  and  I, arranged  my  portfolio,  pulled  the  table 
nearer  the  fire,  and  began,  "  Dear  Veronica."  After  writ 
ing  this  a  few  times  I  gave  it  up,  cut  off  the  "  Dear  Veron 
icas,"  and  made  lamplighters  of  the  paper. 

Ben  Somers  called  at  noon,  to  inquire  the  reason  of  my 
absence  from  school,  and  left  a  book  for  me.  It  was  the 
poems  he  had  spoken  of.  I  lighted  on  "  Fatima,"  read  it 
and  copied  it.  In  the  afternoon  Alice  came  up  with  the 
baby. 

"  Let  me  braid  your  hair,"  she  said,  "  in  a  different 
fashion." 

I  assented  ;  the  baby  was  bestowed  on  a  rug,  and  a 
chair  was  put  before  the  glass,  that  I  might  witness  the 
operation. 

"  What  magnificent  hair  !  "  she  said,  as  she  unrolled  it. 
"  It  is  a  yard  long." 

"  It  is  a  regular  mane,  isn't  it  ? " 

She  began  combing  it ;  the  baby  crawled  under  the  bed, 
and  coming  out  with  the  handkerchief  in  its  hand,  crept  up 
to  her,  trying  to  make  her  take  it.  She  had  combed  my  hair 
over  my  face,  but  I  saw  it. 

"  Do  I  hurt  you,  Cass  ?  " 


THE  MORGESONS.  105 

"  No,  do  I  ever  hurt  you,  Alice  ? "  And  I  divided  the 
long  bands  over  my  eyes,  and  looked  up  at  her. 

"Were  any  of  your  family  ever  cracked  ?  I  have  long 
suspected  you  of  a  disposition  that  way." 

"  The  child  is  choking  itself  with  that  handkerchief." 

She  took  it,  and,  tossing  it  on  the  bed,  gave  Byron  to  the 
child  to  play  with,  and  went  on  with  the  hair-dressing. 

"  There,  now,"  she  said,"  is  not  this  a  masterpiece  of  bar 
ber's  craft  ?  Look  at  the  back  of  your  head,  and  then  come 
down." 

"  Yes,  I  will,  for  I  feel  better." 

When  I  returned  to  my  room  again  it  was  like  meeting  a 
confidential  friend. 

A  few  days  after,  father  came  to  Rosville.  I  invited  Ben 
Somers  and  Helen  to  spend  with  us  the  only  evening  he 
stayed.  After  they  were  gone,  we  sat  in  my  room  and  talked 
over  many  matters.  His  spirits  were  not  as  buoyant  as 
usual,  and  I  felt  an  undefmable  anxiety  which  I  did  not 
mention.  When  he  said  that  mother  was  more  abstracted 
than  ever,  he  sighed.  I  asked  him  how  many  years 
he  thought  I  must  waste  ;  eighteen  had  already  gone  for 
nothing. 

"  You  must  go  in  the  way  ordained,  waste  or  no  waste. 
I  have  tried  to  make  your  life  differ  from  mine  at  the  same 
age,  for  you  are  like  me,  and  I  wanted  to  see  the  result." 

"  We  shall  see." 

"  Veronica  has  been  let  alone — is  master  of  herself,  ex 
cept  when  in  a  rage.  She  is  an  extraordinary  girl  ;  inde 
pendent  of  kith  and  kin,  and  everything  else.  I  assure 
you,  Miss  Gassy,  she  is  very  good." 

"  Does  she  ever  ask  for  me  ?  " 

"  I  never  heard  her  mention  your  name  but  once.  She 
asked  one  day  what  your  teachers  were.  You  do  not  love 
each  other,  I  suppose.  What  hatred  there  is  between  near 
relations  !  Bitter,  bitter,"  he  said  calmly,  as  if  he  thought 
of  some  object  incapable  of  the  hatred  he  spoke  of. 

"  That's  Grandfather  John  Morgeson  you  think  of.  I  do 
not  hate  Veronica.  I  think  I  love  her  ;  at  least  she  inter 
ests  me." 

"  The  same  creeping  in  the  blood  of  us  all,  Gassy.  I  did 
not  like  my  father  ;  but  thank  God  I  behaved  decently  to 
ward  him.  It  must  be  late." 


106  THE  MORGESONS. 

As  he  kissed  me,  and  we  stood  face  to  face,  I  recognized 
my  likeness  to  him.  "  He  has  had  experiences  that  I  shall 
never  know,"  I  thought.  "  Why  should  I  tell  him  mine  ?  " 
But  an  overpowering  impulse  seized  me  to  speak  to  him  of 
Charles.  "  Father,"  and  I  put  my  hands  on  his  shoulders. 
He  set  his  candle  back  on  the  table. 

"  You  look  hungry-eyed,  eager.  What  is  it  ?  Are  you 
well  ? " 

"No." 

"  You  are  faded  a  little.     Your  face  has  lost  its  firmness." 

My  impulse  died  a  sudden  death.  I  buried  it  with  a 
swallow. 

"  Do  you  think  so  ?  " 

"  You  are  all  alike.  Let  me  tell  you  something  ;  don't 
get  sick.  If  you  are,  hide  it  as  much  as  possible.  Men  do 
not  like  sick  women." 

"  I'll  end  this  fading  business  as  soon  as  possible.  It  is 
late.  Good-night,  dad." 

I  examined  my  face  as  soon  as  he  closed  the  door. 
There  was  a  change.  Not  the  change  from  health  to  dis 
ease,  but  an  expression  lurking  there — a  reflection  of  some 
unrevealed  secret. 

The  next  morning  was  passed  with  Alice  and  the  chil 
dren.  He  was  pleased  with  her  prettiness  and  sprightli- 
ness,  and  his  gentle  manner  and  disposition  pleased  her. 
She  asked  him  to  let  me  spend  another  year  in  Rosville  ; 
but  he  said  that  I  must  return  to  Surrey,  and  that  he  never 
would  allow  me  to  leave  home  again. 

'  She  will  marry." 

'  Not  early." 

'  Never,  I  believe,"  I  said. 

'  It  will  be  as  well." 

'Yes,"  she  replied ;  "if  you  leave  her  a  fortune,  or  teach  her 
some  trade,  that  will  give  her  some  importance  in  the  world." 

Her  wisdom  astonished  me. 

He  was  sorry,  he  said,  that  Morgeson  was  not  at  home. 
When  he  mentioned  him  I  looked  out  of  the  window,  and 
saw  Ben  Somers  coming  into  the  yard.  As  he  entered, 
Alice  gave  him  a  meaning  look,  which  was  not  lost  upon  me, 
and  which  induced  him  to  observe  Ben  closely. 

"  The  train  is  nearly  due,  Mr.  Morgeson  ;  shall  I  walk  to 
the  station  with  you  ?  " 


THE  MORGESONS.  107 

"Certainly ;  come,  Gassy." 

On  the  way  he  touched  me,  making  a  sign  toward  Ben. 
I  shook  my  head,  which  appeared  satisfactory.  The  rest 
of  the  time  was  consumed  in  the  discussion  of  the  rela 
tionship,  which  ended  in  an  invitation,  as  I  expected,  to 
Surrey. 

"  The  governor  is  not  worried,  is  he  ?  "  asked  Ben,  on 
our  way  back. 

"  No  more  than  I  am." 

"  What  a  pity  Morgeson  was  not  at  home  !  " 

"  Why  a  pity  ?  " 

"  I  should  like  to  see  them  together,  they  are  such  antip 
odal  men.  Does  your  father  know  him  well  ? " 

"  Does  any  one  know  him  well  ?  " 

"  Yes,  I  know  him.  I  do  not  like  him.  He  is  a  savage, 
living  by  his  instincts,  with  one  element  of  civilization — he 
loves  Beauty — beauty  like  yours."  He  turned  pale  when  he 
said  this,  but  went  on.  "  He  has  never  seen  a  woman  like 
you  ;  who  has  ?  Forgive  me,  but  I  watch  you  both." 

"  I  have  perceived  it." 

"  I  suppose  so,  and  it  makes  you  more  willful." 

"  You  said  you  were  but  a  boy." 

"  Yes,  but  I  have  had  one  or  two  manly  wickednesses.  I 
have  done  with  them,  I  hope." 

"  So  that  you  have  leisure  to  pry  into  those  of  others." 

"  You  do  not  forgive  me." 

"  I  like  you  ;  but  what  can  I  do  ?  " 

"  Keep  up  your  sophistry  to  the  last." 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

A  LICE  and  I  were  preparing  for  the  first  ball,  when 
jf\  Charles  came  home,  having  been  absent  several  weeks. 
The  conservatory  was  finished,  and  looked  well,  jutting 
from  the  garden-room,  which  we  used  often,  since  the 
weather  had  been  cold.  The  flowers  and  plants  it  was  filled 
with  were  more  fragrant  and  beautiful  than  rare.  I  never 
saw  him  look  so  genial  as  when  he  inspected  it  with  us. 
Alice  was  in  good-humor,  also,  for  he  had  brought  her  a 
set  of  jewels. 


Io8  THE  MORGESONS. 

"  Is  it  not  her  birthday,"  he  said,  when  he  gave  her  the 
jewel  case,  "  or  something,  that  I  can  give  Cassandra 
this  ?  "  taking  a  little  box  from  his  pocket. 

"  Oh  yes,"  said  Alice ;  "show  it  to  us." 

"Will  you  have  it  ? "  he  asked  me. 

I  held  out  my  hand,  and  he  put  on  my  third  finger  a  dia 
mond  ring,  which  was  like  a  star. 

"  How  well  it  looks  on  your  long  hand  !  "  said  Alice. 

"What  unsuspected  tastes  I  find  I  have!"  I  answered.  "  I 
am  passionately  fond  of  rings  ;  this  delights  me." 

His  swarthy  face  flushed  with  pleasure  at  my  words  ;  but, 
according  to  his  wont,  he  said  nothing. 

A  few  days  after  his  return,  a  man  came  into  the  yard, 
leading  a  powerful  horse  chafing  in  his  halter,  which  he  took 
to  the  stable.  Charles  asked  me  to  look  at  a  new  purchase 
he  had  made  in  Pennsylvania.  The  strange  man  was  loung 
ing  about  the  stalls  when  we  went  in,  inspecting  the  horses 
with  a  knowing  air. 

"  I  declare,  sir,"  said  Jesse,  "  I  am  afeared  to  tackle  this 
ere  animal  ;  he's  a  reglar  brute,  and  no  mistake." 

"  He'll  be  tame  enough  ;  he  is  but  four  years  old." 

"He's  never  been  in  a  carriage,"  said  the  man. 

"  Lead  him  out,  will  you  ?  " 

The  man  obeyed.  The  horse  was  a  fine  creature,  black, 
and  thick-maned  ;  but  the  whites  of  his  eyes  were  not  clear  ; 
they  were  streaked  with  red,  and  he  attempted  continually 
to  turn  his  nostrils  inside  out.  Altogether,  I  thought  him 
diabolical. 

"  What's  the  matter  with  his  eyes  ?  "  Charles  asked. 

"  I  think,  sir,"  the  man  replied,  "  as  how  they  got  inflamed 
like,  in  the  boat  coming  from  New  York.  It's  nothing  per- 
ticalar,  I  believe." 

Alice  declared  it  was  too  bad,  when  she  heard  there  was 
another  horse  in  the  stable.  She  would  not  look  at  him, 
and  said  she  would  never  ride  with  Charles  when  he  drove 
him. 

I  had  been  taking  lessons  of  Professor  Simpson,  and  was 
ready  for  the  ball.  All  the  girls  from  the  Academy  were 
going  in  white,  except  Helen,  who  was  to  wear  pink  silk. 
It  was  to  be  a  military  ball,  and  strangers  were  expected. 
Ben  Somers,  and  our  Rosville  beaux,  were  of  course  to  be 
there,  all  in  uniform,  except  Ben,  who  preferred  the  dress 


THE  MORGESONS.  109 

of  a  gentleman,  he  said, — silk  stockings,  pumps,  and  a  white 
cravat 

We  were  dressed  by  nine  o'clock,  Alice  in  black  velvet, 
with  a  wreath  of  flowers  in  her  black  hair — I  in  alight  blue 
velvet  bodice,  and  white  silk  skirt.  We  were  waiting  for 
the  ball  hack  to  come  for  us,  as  hat  was  the  custom,  for 
no  one  owned  a  close  coach  in  Rosville,  when  Charles 
brought  in  some  splendid  scarlet  flowers  which  he  gave  to 
Alice. 

"  Where  are  Cassandra's  ? " 

"  She  does  not  care  for  flowers ;  besides,  she  would 
throw  them  away  on  her  first  partner." 

He  put  us  in  the  coach,  and  went  back.  I  was  glad  he 
did  not  come  with  us,  and  gave  myself  up  to  the  excitement  of 
my  first  ball.  Alice  was  surrounded  by  her  acquaintances  at 
once,  and  I  was  asked  to  dance  a  quadrille  by  Mr.  Parker, 
whose  gloves  were  much  too  large,  and  whose  white  trows- 
ers  were  much  too  long. 

"  I  kept  the  flowers  you  gave  me,"  he  said  in  a  breathless 
way. 

"Oh  yes,  I  remember;  mustn't  we  forward  now?" 

"  Mr.  Morgeson's  very  fond  of  flowers." 

"  So  he  is.     How  de  do,  Miss  Ryder." 

Miss  Ryder,  my  vis-a-vis,  bowed,  looking  scornfully  at  my 
partner,  who  was  only  a  clerk,  while  hers  was  a  law  student. 
I  immediately  turned  to  Mr.  Parker  with  affable  smiles, 
and  went  into  a  kind  of  dumb-show  of  conversation,  which 
made  him  warm  and  uncomfortable.  Mrs.  Judge  Ryder 
sailed  by  on  Ben  Somers's  arm. 

"  Put  your  shoulders  down,"  she  whispered  to  her  daugh 
ter,  who  had  poked  one  very  much  out  of  her  dress.  "  My 
love,"  she  spoke  aloud,  "you  mustn't  dance  every  set." 

"  No,  ma,"  and  she  passed  on,  Ben  giving  a  faint  cough, 
for  my  benefit.  We  could  not  find  Alice  after  the  dance  was 
over.  A  brass  band  alternated  with  the  quadrille  band, 
and  it  played  so  loudly  that  we  had  to  talk  at  the  top  of  our 
voices  to  be  heard.  Mine  soon  gave  out,  and  I  begged  Mr. 
Parker  to  bring  Helen,  for  I  had  not  yet  seen  her.  She 
was  with  Dr.  White,  who  had  dropped  in  to  see  the  misera 
ble  spectacle.  The  air,  he  said,  shaking  his  finger  at  me, 


HO  THE  MORGESONS. 

was  already  miasmal ;  it  would  be  infernal  by  midnight 
Christians  ought  not  to  be  there.  "  Go  home  early,  Miss. 
Your  mother  never  went  to  a  ball,  I'll  warrant." 

"  We  are  wiser  than  our  mothers." 

"And  wickeder  ;  you  will  send  for  me  to-morrow." 

"  Your  Valenciennes  lace  excruciates  the  Ryders,"  said 
Helen.  "I  was  standing  near  Mrs.  Judge  Ryder  and  the 
girls  just  now.  '  Did  you  ever  see  such  an  upstart  ? '  And, 
4  What  an  extravagant  dress  she  has  on — it  is  ridiculous,' 
Josephine  Ryder  said.  When  Ben  Somers  heard  this  at 
tack  on  you,  he  told  them  that  your  lace  was  an  heirloom. 
Here  he  is."  Mr.  Parker  took  her  away,  and  Ben  Somers 
went  in  pursuit  of  a  seat.  The  quadrille  was  over,  I  was 
engaged  for  the  next,  and  he  had  not  come  back.  I  saw 
nothing  of  him  till  the  country  dance  before  supper.  He 
was  at  the  foot  of  the  long  line,  opposite  a  pretty  girl  in 
blue,  looking  very  solemn  and  stately.  I  took  off  the  glove 
from  my  hand  which  wore  the  new  diamond,  and  held  it  up, 
expecting  him  to  look  my  way  soon.  Its  flash  caught  his 
eyes,  as  they  roamed  up  and  down,  and,  as  I  expected, 
he  left  his  place  and  came  up  behind  me. 

"  Where  did  you  get  that  ring  ?"  wiping  his  face  with  his 
handkerchief. 

'Ask  Alice." 

'You  are  politic." 

'  Handsome,  isn't  it?" 

'  And  valuable  ;  it  cost  as  much  as  the  new  horse." 

'  Have  you  made  a  memorandum  of  it?" 

'  Destiny  has  brilliant  spokes  in  her  wheel,  hasn't  she  ?  " 

'  Is  that  from  the  Greek  tragedies  ? " 

'  To  your  places,  gentlemen,"  the  floor-manager  called, 
and  the  band  struck  up  the  Fisher's  Hornpipe.  At  supper, 
I  saw  Ben  Somers,  still  with  the  pretty  girl  in  blue  ;  but  he 
came  to  my  chair  and  asked  me  if  I  did  not  think  she  was  a 
pretty  toy  for  a  man  to  play  with. 

"  How  much  wine  have  you  drunk  ?  Enough  to  do  justice 
to  the  family  annals  ? " 

"  Really,  you  have  been  well  informed.  No,  I  have  not 
drunk  enough  for  that ;  but  Mrs.  Ryder  has  sent  her  virgins 
home  with  me.  I  am  afraid  their  lamps  are  upset  again. 


THE  MORGESONS.  in 

I  drink  nothing  after  to-night.  You  shall  not  ask  again, 
'  How  much  ? ' ' 

My  fire  was  out  when  I  reached  home.  My  head  was 
burning  and  aching.  I  was  too  tired  to  untwist  my  hair, 
and  I  pulled  and  dragged  at  my  dress,  which  seemed  to 
have  a  hundred  fastenings.  Creeping  into  bed,  I  perceived 
the  odor  of  flowers,  and  looking  at  my  table  discovered  a 
bunch  of  white  roses. 

"  Roses  are  nonsense,  and  life  is  nonsense,"  I  thought. 

When  I  opened  my  eyes,  Alice  was  standing  by  the  bed, 
with  a  glass  of  roses  in  her  hand. 

"  Charles  put  these  roses  here,  hey  ?  " 

"  I  suppose  so ;  throw  them  out  of  the  window,  and  me 
too  ;  my  head  is  splitting." 

"  To  make  amends  for  not  giving  you  any  last  night," 
she  went  on  ;  "  he  is  quite  childish." 

"  Can't  you  unbraid  my  hair,  it  hurts  my  head  so?  " 

She  felt  my  hands.  I  was  in  a  fever,  she  said,  and  ran 
down  for  Charles.  "  Cass  is  sick,  in  spite  of  your  white 
roses." 

"  The  devil  take  the  roses.   Can't  you  get  up,  Cassandra  ?  ' 

"  Not  now.     Go  away,  will  you  ? " 

He  left  the  room  abruptly.  Alice  loosened  my  hair, 
bound  my  head,  and  poured  cologne-water  over  me,  lament 
ing  all  the  while  that  she  had  not  brought  me  home ;  and 
then  went  down  for  some  tea,  presently  returning  to  say 
that  Charles  had  been  for  Dr.  White,  who  said  he  would 
not  come.  But  he  was  there  shortly  afterward.  By  night 
I  was  well  again. 

Dr.  Price  gave  us  a  lecture  on  late  hours  that  week,  re 
questing  us,  if  we  had  any  interest  in  our  education,  or  ex 
pected  him  to  have  any,  to  abstain  from  balls. 

Ben  Somers  disappeared  ;  no  one  knew  where  he  had 
gone.  The  Ryders  were  in  consternation,  for  he  was  an 
intimate  of  the  family,  since  he  had  gone  into  Judge  Ryder's 
office,  six  weeks  before.  He  returned,  however,  with  a 
new  overcoat  trimmed  with  fur,  the  same  as  that  with  which 
my  new  cloak  was  trimmed.  A  great  snowstorm  began  the 
day  of  his  return,  and  blocked  us  indoors  for  several  days, 
and  we  had  permanent  sleighing  afterward. 

In  January  it  was  proposed  that  we  should  go  to  the  Swan 
Tavern,  ten  miles  out  of  Rosville. 


112  THE  MORGESONS. 

I  had  made  good  resolutions  since  the  ball,  and  declined 
going  to  the  second,  which  came  off  three  weeks  afterward. 
The  truth  was,  I  did  not  enjoy  the  first ;  but  I  preferred  to 
give  my  decision  a  virtuous  tinge.  I  also  determined  to 
leave  the  Academy  when  the  spring  came,  for  I  felt  no  longer 
a  schoolgirl.  But  for  Helen,  I  could  not  have  remained  as 
I  did.  She  stayed  for  pastime  now,  she  confessed,  it  was 
so  dull  at  home  ;  her  father  was  wrapped  in  his  studies, 
and  she  had  a  stepmother.  I  resolved  again  that  I  would 
study  more,  and  was  translating,  in  view  of  this  resolve, 
"  Corinne,"  with  Miss  Prior,  and  singing  sedulously  with 
Mrs.  Lane,  and  had  begun  a  course  of  reading  with  Dr. 
Price. 

I  refused  two  invitations  to  join  the  sleighing  party,  and 
on  the  night  it  was  to  be  had  prepared  to  pass  the  evening 
in  my  own  room  with  Oswald  and  Corinne.  Before  the  fire, 
with  lighted  candles,  I  heard  a  ringing  of  bells  in  the  yard 
and  a  stamping  of  feet  on  the  piazza.  Alice  sent  up  for 
me.  I  found  Ben  Somers  with  her,  who  begged  me  to  take 
a  seat  in  his  sleigh.  Helen  was  there,  and  Amelia  Bancroft. 
Alice  applauded  me  for  refusing  him  ;  but  when  he  whis 
pered  in  my  ear  that  he  had  been  to  Surrey  I  changed  my 
mind.  She  assisted  me  with  cheerful  alacrity  to  put  on  a 
merino  dress,  its  color  was  purple  ; — a  color  I  hate  now,  and 
never  wear — and  wrapped  me  warmly.  Charles  appeared 
before  we  started.  "  Are  you  really  going  ? "  he  asked,  in 
a  tone  of  displeasure. 

"  She  is  really  going,"  Ben  answered  for  me.  "  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Bancroft  are  going,"  Helen  said.  "  Why  not  drive 
out  with  Mrs.  Morgeson  ? " 

"  The  night  is  splendid,"  Ben  remarked. 

"Wont  you  come  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  If  Alice  wishes  it.     Will  you  go  ?"  he  asked  her. 

"  Would  you  ? "  she  inquired  of  all,  and  all  replied, 
"  Yes." 

We  started  in  advance.  Helen  and  Amelia  were  packed 
on  the  back  seat,  in  a  buffalo  robe,  while  Ben  and  I  sat  in 
the  shelter  of  the  driver's  box,  wrapped  in  another.  It  was 
moonlight,  and  as  we  passed  the  sleighs  of  the  rest  of  the 
party,  exchanging  greetings,  we  grew  very  merry.  Ben, 
voluble  and  airy,  enlivened  us  by  his  high  spirits. 

We  were  drinking  mulled  wine  round  the  long  pine  din- 


THE  MORGESONS.  "3 

ner-table  of  the  Swan,  when  Charles  and  Alice  arrived. 
There  were  about  thirty  in  the  room,  which  was  lighted  by 
tallow  candles.  When  he  entered,  it  seemed  as  if  the  can 
dles  suddenly  required  snuffing,  and  we  ceased  to  laugh. 
All  spoke  to  him  with  respect,  but  with  an  inflection  of  the 
voice  which  denoted  that  he  was  not  one  of  us.  As  he 
carelessly  passed  round  the  table  all  made  a  movement  as 
he  approached,  scraping  their  chairs  on  the  bare  floor, 
moving  their  glass  of  mulled  wine,  or  altering  the  position 
of  their  arms  or  legs.  An  indescribable  appreciation  of 
the  impression  which  he  made  upon  others  filled  my  heart. 
His  isolation  from  the  sympathy  of  every  person  there 
gave  me  a  pain  and  a  pity,  and  for  the  first  time  I  felt  a 
pang  of  tenderness,  and  a  throe  of  pride  for  him.  But 
Alice,  upon  whom  he  never  made  any  impression,  saw  noth 
ing  of  this  ;  her  gayety  soon  removed  the  stiffness  and  silence 
he  created.  The  party  grew  noisy  again,  except  Ben,  who 
had  not  broken  the  silence  into  which  he  fell  as  soon  as  he 
saw  Charles.  The  mulled  wine  stood  before  him  untouched. 
I  moved  to  the  corner  of  the  table  to  allow  room  for  the 
chair  which  Charles  was  turning  toward  me.  Ben  ordered 
more  wine,  and  sent  a  glass  full  to  him.  Taking  it  from 
the  boy  who  brought  it,  I  gave  it  to  him.  "  Drink,"  I  said. 
My  voice  sounded  strangely.  Barely  tasting  it,  he  set  the 
glass  down,  and  leaning  his  arm  on  the  table,  turned  his 
face  to  me,  shielding  it  with  his  hand  from  the  gaze  of  those 
about  us.  I  pushed  away  a  candle  that  flared  in  our 
faces. 

'  You  never  drink  wine  ?  " 

'  No,  Cassandra." 

'  How  was  the  ride  down  ?  " 

'  Delightful." 

'  What  about  the  new  horse  ?  " 

'  He  is  an  awful  brute.' 

'  When  shall  we  have  a  ride  with  him  ? " 

'  When  you  please." 

The  boy  came  in  to  say  would  we  please  go  to  the  parlor  ; 
our  room  was  wanted  for  supper.  An  immediate  rush,  with 
loud  laughing,  took  place,  for  the  parlor  fire  ;  but  Charles 
and  I  did  not  move.  I  was  busy  remaking  the  bow  of  my 
purple  silk  cravat. 

" '  I  drink  the  cup  of  a  costly  death,'  "  Ben  hummed,  as 


H4  THE  MORGESONS. 

he  sauntered  along  by  us,  hands  in  his  pockets — the  last  in 
the  room,  except  us  two. 

"  Indeed,  Somers  ;  perhaps  you  would  like  this  too." 
And  Charles  offered  him  his  glass  of  wine. 

Ben  took  it,  and  with  his  thumb  and  finger  snapped  it 
off  at  the  stem,  tipping  the  wine  over  Charles's  hand. 

I  saw  it  staining  his  wristband,  like  blood.  He  did  not 
stir,  but  a  slight  smile  traveled  swiftly  over  his  face. 

"  I  know  Veronica,"  said  Ben,  looking  at  me.  "  Has 
this  man  seen  her  ?  " 

His  voice  crushed  me.  What  a  barrier  his  expression 
of  contempt  made  between  her  and  me  ! 

Withal,  I  felt  a  humiliating  sense  of  defeat. 

Charles  read  me. 

As  he  folded  his  wristband  under  his  sleeve,  carefully 
and  slowly,  his  slender  fingers  did  not  tremble  with  the 
desire  that  possessed  him,  which  I  saw  in  his  terrible  eyes  as 
plainly  as  if  he  had  spoken,  "I  would  kill  him." 

They  looked  at  my  hands,  for  I  was  wringing  them,  and 
a  groan  burst  from  me. 

"  Somers,"  said  Charles,  rising  and  touching  his  shoul 
der,  "  behave  like  a  man,  and  let  us  alone ;  I  love  this 
girl." 

His  pale  face  changed,  his  eyes  softened,  and  mine  filled 
with  tears. 

"  Cassandra,"  urged  Ben,  in  a  gentle  voice,  "  come  with 
me  ;  come  away." 

"  Fool,"  I  answered  ;  "  leave  me  alone,  and  go." 

He  hesitated,  moved  toward  the  door,  and  again  urged 
me  to  come. 

"  Go!  go! "  stamping  my  foot,  and  the  door  closed  without 
a  sound. 

For  a  moment  we  stood,  transfixed  in  an  isolation  which 
separated  us  from  all  the  world  beside. 

"  Now  Charles,  we  " — a  convulsive  sob  choked  me,  a 
strange  taste  filled  my  mouth,  I  put  my  handkerchief  to  my 
lips  and  wiped  away  streaks  of  blood.  I  showed  it  to  him. 

"  It  is  nothing,  by  God  !  "  snatching  the  handkerchief. 
"  Take  mine — oh,  my  dear — " 

I  tried  to  laugh,  and  muttered  the  imperative  fact  of  joio- 
ing  the  rest. 

"  Be  quiefy  Cassandra." 


THE  MORGESONS.  115 

He  opened  the  window,  took  a  handful  of  snow  from  the 
sill  and  put  it  to  my  mou.th.  It  revived  me. 

"  Do  you  hear,  Charles  ?  Never  say  those  frightful  words 
again.  Never,  never." 

"  Never,  if  it  must  be  so." 

He  touched  my  hand  ;  I  opened  it ;  his  closed  over  mine. 

"  Go,  now,"  he  said,  and  springing  to  the  window,  threw 
it  up,  and  jumped  out.  The  boy  came  in  with  a  tablecloth 
on  his  arm,  and  behind  him  Ben. 

"  Glass  broken,  sir." 

"  Put  it  in  the  bill." 

He  offered  me  his  arm,  which  I  was  glad  to  take. 

"  Where  is  Charles?"  Alice  asked,  when  we  went  in. 

"  He  has  just  left  us,"  Ben  answered  ;  "  looking  after  his 
horses,  probably." 

"  Of  course,"  she  replied.  "  You  look  blue,  Cass.  Here, 
take  my  chair  by  the  fire  ;  we  are  going  to  dance  a  Vir 
ginia  reel." 

I  accepted  her  offer,  and  was  thankful  that  the  dance 
would  take  them  away.  I  wanted  to  be  alone  forever. 
Helen  glided  behind  my  chair,  and  laid  her  hand  on  my 
shoulder  ;  I  shook  it  off. 

"  What  is  the  matter,  Cass  ? " 

"  I  am  going  away  from  Char — school." 

"  We  are  all  going  ;  but  not  to-night." 

"  I  am  going  to-night." 

"  So  you  shall,  dear  ;  but  wait  till  after  supper." 

"Do  you  think,  Helen,  that  I  shall  ever  have  consump 
tion  ? "  fumbling  for  my  handkerchief,  forgetting  in  whose 
possession  it  was.  Charles  came  in  at  that  instant,  and  I 
remembered  that  he  had  it. 

"  What  on  earth  has  happened  to  you  ?  Oh  !  "  she  ex 
claimed,  as  I  looked  at  her.  "  You  were  out  there  with 
Morgeson  and  Ben  Somers,"  she  whispered  ;  "  something 
has  occurred  ;  what  is  it  ? " 

"  You  shall  never  know  ;  never — never — never." 

"  Cassandra,  that  man  is  a  devil." 

"  I  like  devils." 

"  The  same  blood  rages  in  both  of  you." 

"  It's  mulled  wine, — thick  and  stupid." 

"  Nonsense." 

"  Will  there  be  tea,  at  supper  ? " 


Il6  THE  MORGESONS. 

"  You  shall  have  some." 

"  Ask  Ben  to  order  it." 

"  Heaven  forgive  us  all,  Cassandra  !  " 

"  Remember  the  tea." 

Charles  stood  near  his  wife  ;  wherever  she  moved  after- 
wards  he  moved.  I  saw  it,  and  felt  that  it  was  the  shadow 
of  something  which  would  follow. 

At  last  the  time  came  for  us  to  return.  Helen  had  plied 
me  with  tea,  and  was  otherwise  watchful,  but  scarcely 
spoke. 

"  It  is  an  age,"  I  said,  "since  I  left  Rosville." 

She  raised  her  eyebrows  merely,  and  asked  me  if  I  would 
have  more  tea. 

"  In  my  room,"  I  thought,  "  I  shall  find  myself  again." 
And  as  I  opened  my  door,  it  welcomed  me  with  so  friendly 
and  silent  an  aspect,  that  I  betrayed  my  grief,  and  it  cov 
ered  my  misery  as  with  a  cloak. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

HELEN  was  called  home  by  the  illness  of  her  father  and 
did  not  return  to  Rosville.  She  would  write  me,  she 
said  ;  but  it  was  many  weeks  before  I  received  a  let 
ter.  Ben  Somers  about  this  time  took  a  fit  of  industry,  and 
made  a  plan  for  what  he  called  a  well-regulated  life,  aver 
ring  that  he  should  always  abide  by  it.  Every  hour  had  its 
duty,  which  must  be  fulfilled.  He  weighed  his  bread  and 
meat,  ate  so  many  ounces  a  day,  and  slept  watch  and  watch, 
as  he  nautically  termed  it.  I  guessed  that  the  meaning  of 
his  plan  was  to  withdraw  from  the  self-chosen  post  of  cen 
sor.  His  only  alienation  was  an  occasional  disappearance 
for  a  few  days.  I  never  asked  him  where  he  went,  and  had 
never  spoken  to  him  concerning  his  mysterious  remark  about 
having  been  in  Surrey.  Neither  had  I  heard  anything  of 
his  being  there  from  father.  Once  he  told  me  that  his 
father  had  explained  the  marriage  of  old  Locke  Morgeson  ; 
but  that  it  was  not  clear  to  him  that  we  were  at  all  related. 

In  consequence  of  his  rigorous  life,  I  saw  little  of  him. 
Though  urged  by  Alice,  he  did  not  come  to  our  house,  and 
we  rarely  met  him  elsewhere.  People  called  him  eccentric, 


MORGESONS.  1 1 7 

but  as  he  was  of  a  rich  family  he  could  afford  to  be,  and 
they  felt  no  slight  by  his  neglect. 

There  was  a  change  everywhere.  The  greatest  change 
of  all  was  in  Charles.  From  the  night  of  the  sleigh-ride  his 
manner  toward  me  was  totally  altered.  As  far  as  I  could 
discern,  the  change  was  a  confirmed  one.  The  days  grew 
monotonous,  but  my  mind  avenged  itself  by  night  in  dreams, 
which  renewed  our  old  relation  in  all  its  mysterious  vitality. 
So  strong  were  their  impressions*  that  each  morning  I  ex 
pected  to  receive  some  token  from  him  which  would  prove 
that  they  were  not  lies.  As  my  expectation  grew  cold  and 
faint,  the  sense  of  a  double  hallucination  tormented  me — 
the  past  and  the  present. 

The  winter  was  over.  I  passed  it  like  the  rest  of  Ros- 
ville,  going  out  when  Alice  went,  staying  at  home  when  she 
stayed.  It  was  all  one  what  I  did,  for  my  aspect  was  one 
of  content. 

Alice  alone  was  unchanged  ;  her  spirits  and  pursuits  were 
always  the  same.  Judging  by  herself,  if  she  judged  at  all, 
she  perceived  no  change  in  us.  Her  theory  regarding 
Charles  was  too  firm  to  be  shaken,  and  all  his  oddity  was 
a  matter  of  course.  As  long  as  I  ate,  and  drank,  and  slept 
as  usual,  I  too  must  be  the  same.  He  was  not  at  home 
much.  Business,  kept  him  at  the  mills,  where  he  often 
slept,  or  out  of  town.  But  the  home  machinery  was  still 
under  his  controlling  hand.  Not  a  leaf  dropped  in  the  con 
servatory  that  he  did  not  see  ;  not  a  meal  was  served  whose 
slightest  detail  was  not  according  to  his  desire.  The  horses 
were  exercised,  the  servants  managed,  the  children  kept 
within  bounds  ;  nothing  in  the  formula  of  our  daily  life  was 
ever  dropped,  and  yet  I  scarcely  ever  saw  him  !  When  we 
met,  I  shared  his  attentions.  He  gave  me  flowers;  noticed 
my  dress  ;  spoke  of  the  affairs  of  the  day  ;  but  all  in  so 
public  and  matter-of-fact  a  way  that  I  thought  I  must  be 
the  victim  of  a  vicious  sentimentality,  or  that  he  had  amused 
himself  with  me.  Either  way,  the  sooner  I  cured  myself  of 
my  vice  the  better.  But  my  dreams  continued. 

"  I  miss  something  in  your  letters,"  father  complained. 
"  What  is  it  ?  Would  you  like  to  come  home  ?  Your 
mother  is  failing  in  health — she  may  need  you,  though  she 
says  not." 

I  wrote  him  that  I  should  come  home. 


Il8  THE  MORGESONS. 

"Are  you  prepared,"  he  asked  in  return,  "to  remain  at 
home  for  the  future  ?  Have  you  laid  the  foundation  of 
anything  by  which  you  can  abide  contented,  and  employed? 
Veronica  has  been  spending  two  months  in  New  York,  with 
the  family  of  one  of  my  business  friends.  All  that  she 
brings  back  serves  to  embellish  her  quiet  life,  not  to  change 
it  Will  it  be  so  with  you  ?" 

I  wrote  back,    "  No  ;  but  I  am  coming." 

He  wrote  again  of  changes  in  Surrey.  Dr.  Snell  had 
gone,  library  and  all,  and  a  new  minister,  red  hot  from  An- 
dover,  had  taken  his  place.  An  ugly  new  church  was  build 
ing.  His  best  ship,  the  Locke  Morgeson,  was  at  the  bottom 
of  the  Indian  Ocean,  he  had  just  heard.  Her  loss  bothered 
him,  but  his  letters  were  kinder  than  ever. 

I  consulted  with  Alice  about  leaving  the  Academy.  She 
approved  my  plan,  but  begged  me  not  to  leave  her.  I  said 
nothing  of  my  determination  to  that  effect,  feeling  a  strange 
disinclination  toward  owning  it,  though  I  persisted  in  re 
peating  it  to  myself.  I  applied  diligently  to  my  reading, 
emulating  Ben  Somers  in  the  regularity  of  my  habits,  and 
took  long  walks  daily — a  mode  of  exercise  I  had  adopted 
since  I  had  ceased  my  rides  with  Charles.  The  pale  blue 
sky  of  spring  over  me,  and  the  pale  green  grass  under  me, 
were  charming  perhaps  ;  but  there  was  the  same  monotony 
in  them,  as  in  other  things.  I  did  not  frequent  our  old 
promenade,  Silver  Street,  but  pushed  my  walks  into  the  out 
skirts  of  Rosville,  by  farms  bordered  with  woods.  My 
schoolmates,  who  were  familiar  with  all  the  pleasant  spots 
of  the  neighborhood,  met  me  in  groups.  "Are  you  really 
taking  walks  like  the  rest  of  us  ?  "  they  asked.  "  Only 
alone,"  I  answered. 

I  bade  farewell  at  last  to  Miss  Prior.  We  parted  with  all 
friendliness  and  respect  ;  from  the  fact,  possibly,  that  we 
parted  ignorant  of  each  other.  It  was  the  most  rational  re 
lation  that  I  had  ever  held  with  any  one.  We  parted  with 
out  emotion  or  regret,  and  I  started  on  my  usual  walk. 

As  I  was  returning  I  met  Ben  Somers.  When  he  saw  me 
he  threw  his  cap  into  the  air,  with  the  information  that  he 
had  done  with  his  plans,  and  had  ordered  an  indigestible 
supper,  in  honor  of  his  resolve.  As  people  had  truly  re 
marked,  he  could  afford  to  be  eccentric.  He  was  tired  of 
it ;  he  had  money  enough  to  do  without  law.  "  Not  as 


THE  MORGESONS.  119 

much  as  your  cousin  Morgeson,  who  can  do  without  the 
Gospel,  too." 

This  was  the  first  time  that  he  had  referred  to  Charles 
since  that  memorable  night.  Trifling  as  his  words  were, 
they  broke  into  the  foundations  of  my  stagnant  will,  and 
set  the  tide  flowing  once  more. 

"  You  went  to  Surrey." 

"  I  was  there  a  few  hours.  Your  father  was  not  at  home. 
He  asked  me  there,  you  remember.  I  introduced  myself, 
therefore,  and  was  politely  received  by  your  mother,  who 
sent  for  Veronica.  She  came  in  with  an  occupied  air,  her 
hands  full  of  what  I  thought  were  herbs  ;  but  they  were 
grasses,  which  she  had  been  re-arranging,  she  said. 

"  '  You  know  my  sister  ? '  she  asked,  coming  close,  and 
looking  at  me  with  the  most  singular  eyes  that  were  ever 
on  earth."  He  stopped  a  moment.  "  Not  like  yours,  in 
the  least,"  he  continued.  "  '  Cassandra  is  very  handsome 
now,  is  she  ? ' 

" '  Why,  Veronica,'  said  your  mother,  '  you  astonish  Mr. 
Somers.' 

" '  You  are  not  astonished,'  she  said  with  vehemence, 
'you  are  embarrassed.' 

"'Upon  my  soul  I  am,'  I  replied,  feeling  at  ease  as  soon 
as  I  had  said  so. 

"  '  Tell  me,  what  has  Cassandra  been  taught  ?  Is  Ros- 
ville  suited  to  her  ?  We  are  not.' 

"  '  Veronica  ! '  said  your  mother  again. 

" '  Mother,'  and  she  shook  the  grasses,  and  made  a  little 
snow  fall  round  her  ;  '  what  shall  I  say  then  ?  I  am  sure 
he  knows  Cassandra.  What  did  you  come  here  for  ? '  turn 
ing  to  me  again. 

"  '  To  see  you,'  I  answered  foolishly. 

"  '  And  has  Cassandra  spoken  of  me  ? '  Her  pale  face 
grew  paler,  and  an  indescribable  expression  passed  over  it. 
'  I  do  not  often  speak  of  her.' 

"  '  She  does  not  of  you,'  I  was  obliged  to  answer.  And 
then  I  said  I  must  go.  But  your  mother  made  me  dine 
with  them.  When  I  came  away  Veronica  offered  me  her 
hand,  but  she  sent  no  message  to  you.  She  has  never  been 
out  of  my  mind  a  moment  since." 

"  You  remember  the  particulars  of  the  interview  very 
well." 


120  THE  MORGESONS. 

"Why  not?" 

"  Would  she  bear  your  supervision  ? ' 

"  Forgive  me,  Cassandra.  Have  I  not  been  making  a 
hermit  of  myself,  eating  bread  and  meat  by  the  ounce,  for 
an  expiation  ? " 

"  How  did  it  look  there  ?    Oh,  tell  me  !  " 

"  You  strange  girl,  have  you  a  soul  then  ?  It  is  a  grand 
place,  where  it  has  not  been  meddled  with.  I  hired  a  man 
to  drive  me  as  far  as  any  paths  went,  into  those  curving 
horns  of  land,  on  each  side  of  Surrey  to  the  south.  The 
country  is  crazy  with  barrenness,  and  the  sea  mocks  it  with 
its  terrible  beauty." 

"  You  will  visit  us,  won't  you  ?  " 

"  Certainly  ;  I  intend  to  go  there." 

"  Do  you  know  that  I  left  school  to-day?  " 

"It  is  time." 

I  hurried  into  the  house,  for  I  did  not  wish  to  hear  any 
questions  from  him  concerning  my  future.  Charlotte,  who 
was  rolling  up  an  umbrella  in  the  hall,  said  it  was  tea-time, 
adding  that  Mr.  Morgeson  had  come,  and  that  he  was  in  the 
dining-room.  I  went  upstairs  to  leave  my  bonnet.  As  I 
pulled  off  my  glove  the  ring  on  my  finger  twisted  round.  I 
took  it  off,  for  the  first  time  since  Charles  had  given  it  to  me. 
A  sense  of  haste  came  upon  me  ;  my  hands  trembled.  I 
brushed  my  hair  with  the  back  of  the  brush,  shook  it  out, 
and  wound  it  into  a  loose  mass,  thrust  in  my  comb  and 
went  down.  Charlotte  was  putting  candles  on  the  tea-table. 
Edward  was  on  his  father's  knee  ;  Alice  was  waiting  by  the 
tray. 

"  Here — is — Cassandra,"  said  Charles,  mentioning  the  fact 
as  if  he  merely  wished  to  attract  the  child's  attention. 

"  Here — is — Cassandra,"  I  repeated,  imitating  his  tone. 
He  started.  Some  devil  broke  loose  in  him,  and  looking 
through  his  eyes  an  instant,  disappeared,  like  a  maniac  who 
looks  through  the  bars  of  his  cell,  and  dodges  from  the  eye 
of  his  keeper.  Jesse  brought  me  a  letter  while  we  were  at 
the  table.  It  was  from  Helen.  I  broke  its  seal  to  see  how 
long  it  was,  and  put  it  aside. 

\     "I  am  free,  Alice.     I  have  left  the  Academy,  and  am 
!  going  to  set  up  for  an  independent  woman." 
I      "  What  ?  "  said  Charles  ;  "  you  did  not  tell  me.     Did  you 
\know  it,  Alice  ?  " 


THE  MORGESONS.  121 

"Yes  ;  we  can't  expect  her  to  be  at  school  all  her  days." 

"Cassandra,"  he  said  suddenly,  "  will  you  give  me  the; 
salt?" 

He  looked  for  the  ring  on  the  hand  which  I  stretched 
towaid  him. 

He  not  only  missed  that,  but  he  observed  the  disregard 
of  his  wishes  in  the  way  I  had  arranged  my  hair.  I  shook 
it  looser  from  the  comb  and  pushed  it  from  my  face.  An 
expression  of  unspeakable  passion,  pride,  and  anguish  came 
into  his  eyes  ;  his  mouth  trembled  ;  he  caught  up  a  glass 
of  water  to  hide  his  face,  and  drank  slowly  from  it. 

"  Are  you  going  away  again  soon  ? "  Alice  asked  him 
presently. 

"  No." 

"  To  keep  Cassandra,  I  intend  to  ask  Mrs.  Morgeson  to 
come  again.  Will  you  write  Mr.  Morgeson  to  urge  it  ? " 

"  Yes." 

"  I  shall  ask  them  to  give  up  Cass  altogether  to  us." 

"  You  like  her  so  much,  do  you,  Alice  ?  " 

His  voice  sounded  far  off  and  faint. 

Again  I  refrained  from  speaking  my  resolution  of  going 
home.  I  would  give  up  thinking  of  it  even  !  I  felt  again 
the  tension  of  the  chain  between  us.  That  night  I  ceased 
to  dream  of  him. 

"  My  letter  is  from  Helen,  Alice,"  I  said. 

"  When  did  you  see  Somers  ? "  Charles  asked. 

"To-day.     I  have  an  idea  he  will  not  remain  here  long." 

"  He  is  an  amusing  young  man,"  Alice  remarked. 

"Very,"  said  Charles. 

Helen's  letter  was  long  and  full  of  questions.  What  had 
I  done  ?  How  had  I  been  ?  She  gave  an  account  of  her 
life  at  home.  She  was  her  father's  nurse,  and  seldom  left 
him.  It  was  a  dreary  sort  of  business,  but  she  was  not 
melancholy.  In  truth,  she  felt  better  pleased  with  herself 
than  she  had  been  in  Rosville.  She  could  not  help  thinking 
that  a  chronic  invalid  would  be  a  good  thing  for  me.  How 
was  Ben  Somers  ?  How  much  longer  should  I  stay  in  Ros 
ville  ?  It  would  know  us  no  more  forever  when  we  left, 
and  both  of  us  would  leave  it  at  the  same  time.  Would  I 
visit  her  ever?  They  lived  in  a  big  house  with  a  red  front 
door.  On  the  left  was  a  lane  with  tall  poplars  dying  on 
each  side  of  it,  up  which  the  cows  passed  every  night.  At 


122  THE  MORGESONS. 

the  back  of  it  was  a  huge  barn  round  which  martins  and 
pigeons  flew  the  year  through.  It  was  dull  but  respectable 
and  refined,  and  no  one  knew  that  she  was  tattooed  on 
the  arm. 

I  treasured  this  letter  and  all  she  wrote  me.  It  was  my 
first  school -girl  correspondence  and  my  last. 

Relations  of  Alice  came  from  a  distance  to  pay  her  a  visit. 
There  was  a  father,  a  mother,  a  son  about  twenty-one,  and 
two  girls  who  were  younger.  Alice  wished  that  they  had 
stayed  at  home  ;  but  she  was  polite  and  endeavored  to  make 
their  visit  agreeable.  The  son,  called  by  his  family  "  Bill," 
informed  Charles  that  he  was  a  judge  of  horseflesh,  and 
would  like  to  give  his  nags  a  try,  having  a  high-flyer  him 
self  at  home  that  the  old  gentleman  would  not  hear  of  his 
bringing  along.  His  actions  denoted  an  admiration  of  me. 
He  looked  over  the  book  I  was  reading  or  rummaged  my 
workbox,  trying  on  my  thimble  with  an  air  of  tenderness, 
and  peeping  into  my  needlebook.  He  told  Alice  that  he 
thought  I  was  a  whole  team  and  a  horse  to  let,  but  he 
felt  rather  balky  when  he  came  near  me,  I  had  such  a 
smartish  eye. 

"What  ami  to  do,  marm  ?"  asked  Jesse  one  morning 
when  Charles  was  away.  "  That  ere  young  man  wants  to 
ride  the  new  horse,  and  it  is  jist  the  one  he  mus'n't  ride." 

"I  will  speak  to  Cousin  Bill  myself,"  she  said. 

"  He  seems  a  sperrited  young  feller,  and  if  he  wants  to 
break  his  neck  it's  most  a  pity  he  shouldn't." 

"  I  think,"  she  said  when  Jesse  had  retired,  "  that  Charles 
must  be  saving  up  that  beast  to  kill  himself  with.  He  will 
not  pull  a  chaise  yet." 

"Has  Charles  tried  him  ?  " 

"  In  the  lane  in  an  open  wagon.  He  has  a  whim  of  hav 
ing  him  broken  to  drive  without  blinders,  bare  of  harness  ; 
he  has  been  away  so  of  late  that  he  has  not  accomplished  it." 

Bill  entered  while  we  were  talking,  and  Alice  told  him  he 
must  not  attempt  to  use  the  horse,  but  proposed  he  should 
take  her  pair  and  drive  out  with  me.  I  shook  my  head  in 
vain  ;  she  was  bent  on  mischief.  He  was  mollified  by  the 
proposal,  and  I  was  obliged  to  get  ready.  On  starting  he 
placed  his  cap  on  one  side,  held  his  whip  upright,  telling 
me  that  it  was  not  up  to  the  mark  in  length,  and  doubled 
his  knuckles  over  the  reins.  He  was  a  good  Jehu,  but  I 


THE  MORGESONS.  123 

could  not  induce  him  to  observe  anything  along  the 
road. 

"  Where's  Mr.  Morgeson'smills  ? " 

We  turned  in  their  direction. 

"  He  is  a  man  of  property,  aint  he  ? " 

"  I  think  so." 

"He  has  prime  horses  anyhow.  That  stallion  of  his 
would  bring  a  first-rate  price  if  he  wanted  to  sell.  Do  you 
play  the  piano  ?  " 

"A  little." 

"And  sing?" 

"Yes." 

"  I  have  not  heard  you.  Will  you  sing  '  A  place  in  thy 
memory,  dearest,'  some  time  for  me  ?  " 

"  Certainly." 

"  Are  you  fond  of  flowers  and  the  like  ?" 

"Very  fond  of  them." 

"  So  am  I ;  our  tastes  agree.     Here  we  are,  hey  ? " 

Charles  came  out  when  he  saw  us  coming  over  the  bridge, 
and  Bill  pulled  up  the  horses  scientifically,  giving  him  a 
coachman's  salute.  "  You  see  I  am  quite  a  whip." 

"  You  are,"  said  Charles. 

"  What  a  cub  !  "  he  whispered  me.  "  I  think  I'll  give  up 
my  horses  and  take  to  walking  as  you  have." 

On  the  way  home  Bill  held  the  reins  in  one  hand  and 
attempted  to  take  mine  with  the  other,  a  proceeding  which 
I  checked,  whereupon  he  was  exceedingly  confused.  The 
whip  fell  from  his  clutch  over  the  dasher,  and  in  recovering  it 
his  hat  fell  off  ;  shame  kept  him  silent  for  the  rest  ofthe  ride. 

I  begged  Alice  to  propose  no  more  rides  with  Cousin 
Bill.  That  night  he  composed  a  letter  which  he  sent  me 
by  Charlotte  early  the  next  morning. 

"Why,  Charlotte,  what  nonsense  is  this?" 

"  I  expect,"  she  answered  sympathizingly,  "  that  it  is  an 
offer  of  his  hand  and  heart." 

"  Don't  mention  it,  Charlotte-." 

"  Never  while  I  have  breath." 

In  an  hour  she  told  Phcebe,  who  told  Alice,  who  told 
Charles,  and  there  it  ended.  It  was  an  offer,  as  Charlotte 
predicted.  My  first !  I  was  crestfallen  !  I  wrote  a  reply, 
waited  till  everybody  had  gone  to  breakfast,  and  slipping 
into  his  room,  pinned  it  to  the  pincushion.  In  the  evening 


124  THE  MORGESONS. 

he  asked  if  I  ever  sang  "  Should  these  fond  hopes  e'er  forsake 
f/tee."  I  gave  him  the  " Pirate's  Serenade"  instead,  which 
his  mother  declared  beautiful.  I  saw  Alice  and  Charles 
laughing,  and  could  hardly  help  joining  them,  when  I  looked 
at  Bill,  in  whose  countenance  relief  and  grief  were  mingled. 

It  was  a  satisfaction  to  us  when  they  went  away.  Their 
visit  was  shortened,  I  suspected,  by  the  representations  Bill 
made  to  his  mother.  She  said,  "  Good-by,"  with  coldness  ; 
but  he  shook  hands  with  me,  and  said  it  was  all  right  he 
supposed. 

The  day  they  went  I  had  a  letter  from  father  which 
informed  me  that  mother  would  not  come  to  Rosville.  He 
reminded  me  that  I  had  been  in  Rosville  over  a  year.  "  I 
am  going  home  soon,"  I  said  to  myself,  putting  away  the 
letter.  It  was  a  summer  day,  bright  and  hot.  Alice,  busy 
all  day,  complained  of  fatigue  and  went  to  bed  soon  after 
tea.  The  windows  were  open  and  the  house  was  perfumed 
with  odors  from  the  garden.  At  twilight  I  went  out  and 
walked  under  the  elms,  whose  pendant  boughs  were  motion 
less.  I  watched  the  stars  as  they  came  out  one  by  one 
above  the  pale  green  ring  of  the  horizon  and  glittered  in 
the  evening  sky,  which  darkened  slowly.  I  was  coming  up 
the  gravel  walk  when  I  heard  a  step  at  the  upper  end  of  it 
which  arrested  me.  I  recognized  it,  and  slipped  behind  a 
tree  to  wait  till  it  should  pass  by  me  ;  but  it  ceased,  and  I 
saw  Charles  pulling  off  a  twig  of  the  tree,  which  brushed 
against  his  face.  Presently  he  sprang  round  the  tree, 
caught  me,  and  held  me  fast. 

"  I  am  glad  you  are  here,  my  darling.  Do  you  smell  the 
roses  ? " 

"Yes;  let  me  go." 

"  Not  till  you  tell  me  one  thing.  Why  do  you  stay  in 
Rosville?" 

The  baby  gave  a  loud  cry  in  Alice's  chamber  which 
resounded  through  the  garden. 

"  Go  and  take  care  of  your  baby,"  I  said  roughly,  "  and 
not  busy  yourself  with  me." 

"  Cassandra,"  he  said,  with  a  menacing  voice,  "  how  dare 
you  defy  me  ?  How  dare  you  tempt  me  ? " 

I  put  my  hand  on  his  arm.  "  Charles,  is  love  a  matter  of 
temperament  ? " 

"  Are  you  mad  ?    It  is  life — it  is  heaven — it  is  hell." 


THE  MORGESONS.  125 

"  There  is  something  in  this  soft,  beautiful,  odorous  night 
that  makes  one  mad.  Still  I  shall  not  say  to  you  what  you 
once  said  to  me." 

"Ah  !  you  do  not  forget  those  words — ( I  love  you.'  " 

Some  one  came  down  the  lane  which  ran  behind  the 
garden  whistling  an  opera  air. 

"  There  is  your  Providence,"  he  said  quietly,  resting  his 
hand  against  the  tree. 

I  ran  round  to  the  front  piazza,  just  as  Ben  Somers  turned 
out  of  the  lane,  and  called  him. 

"  I  have  wandered  all  over  Rosville  since  sunset,"  he  said 
"and  at  last  struck  upon  that  lane.  To  whom  does  it  belong?" 

"  It  is  ours,  and  the  horses  are  exercised  there." 

"  '  In  such  a  night, 

Troilus,  methinks,  mounted  the  Trojan  walls, 
And  sighed  his  soul  towards  the  Grecian  tents, 
Where  Cressid  lay  that  night.'  " 

"'In  such  a  night, 

Stood  Dido  with  a  willow  in  her  hand, 
Upon  the  wild  sea  banks,  and  waved  her  love 
To  come  again  to  Carthage.'" 

"  Talk  to  me  about  Surrey,  Cassandra." 
"  Not  a  word." 
"  Why  did  you  call  me  ?" 
"  To  see  what  mood  you  were  in." 

"  How  disagreeable  you  are  !  What  is  the  use  of  ven 
turing  one's  mood  with  you  ? " 


CHAPTER  XXL 

ALICE  called  me  to  her  chamber  window  one  morning. 
"  Look  into  the  lane.     Charles  and  Jesse  are  there  with 
that  brute.     He  goes  very  well,  now  that  they  have 
thrown  the  top  of  the  chaise  back  ;  he  quivered  like  a  jelly 
at  first." 

"  I  must  have  a  ride,  Alice." 

"  Charles,"  she  called.     "Breakfast  is  waiting." 

"  What  shall  be  his  name,  girls  ? "  he  asked. 

"  Aspen,"  I  suggested. 

"  That  will  do,"  said  Alice. 


126  THE  MORGESONS. 

"  Shall  we  ride  soon  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  Will  you  ? "  he  spoke  quickly.    "  In  a  day  or  two,  then." 

"  Know  what  you  undertake,  Cass,"  said  Alice. 

"  She  always  does,"  he  answered. 

"  Let  me  go,  papa,"  begged  Edward. 

"  By  and  by,  my  boy." 

"  What  a  compliment,  Cass  !  He  does  not  object  to  ven 
ture  you." 

He  proposed  Fairtown,  six  miles  from  Rosville,  as  he  had 
business  there.  The  morning  we  were  to  go  proved  cloudy, 
and  we  waited  till  afternoon,  when  Charles,  declaring  that  it 
would  not  rain,  ordered  Aspen  to  be  harnessed.  I  went 
into  Alice's  room  tying  my  bonnet ;  he  was  there,  leaning 
over  the  baby's  crib,  who  lay  in  it  crowing  and  laughing  at 
the  'snapping  of  his  fingers.  Alice  was  hemming  white 
muslin. 

"  Take  a  shawl  with  you,  Cass  ;  I  think  it  will  rain,  the 
air  is  so  heavy." 

"  I  guess  not,"  said  Charles,  going  to  the  window. 
"What  a  nuisance  that  lane  is,  so  near  the  garden  !  I'll 
have  it  plowed  soon,  and  enclosed." 

"  For  all  those  wild  primroses  you  value  so?  "  she  asked. 

"  I'll  spare  those." 

Charlotte  came  to  tell  us  that  the  chaise  was  ready. 

"Good-bye,  Alice,"  he  said,  passing  her,  and  giving  her 
work  a  toss  up  to  the  ceiling. 

"  Be  careful." 

"  Take  care,  sir,"  said  Penn,  after  we  were  in  the  chaise, 
"  and  don't  give  way  to  him  ;  if  you  do,  he'll  punish  you. 
May  be  he  feels  the  thunder  in  the  air." 

We  reached  Fairtown  without  any  indication  of  mischief 
from  Aspen,  although  he  trotted  along  as  if  under  protest. 
Charles  was  delighted,  and  thought  he  would  be  very  fast, 
by  the  time  he  was  trained.  It  grew  murky  and  hot  every 
moment,  and  when  we  reached  Fairtown  the  air  was  black 
and  sultry  with  the  coming  storm.  Charles  left  me  at  the 
little  hotel,  and  returned  so  late  in  the  afternoon  that 
we  decided  not  to  wait  for  the  shower.  Two  men  led 
Aspen  to  the  door.  He  pulled  at  his  bridle,  and  attempted 
to  run  backward,  playing  his  old  trick  of  trying  to  turn  his 
nostrils  inside  out,  and  drawing  back  his  upper  lip. 

"  Something  irritates  him,  Charles." 


THE  MORGESONS.  127 

"  If  you  are  afraid,  you  must  not  come  with  me.  I  can 
have  you  sent  home  in  a  carriage  from  the  tavern." 

"  I  shall  go  back  with  you." 

But  I  felt  a  vague  alarm,  and  begged  him  to  watch  Aspen, 
and  not  talk.  Aspen  went  faster  and  faster,  seeming  to  have 
lost  his  shyness,  and  my  fears  subsided.  We  were  within  a 
couple  of  miles  of  Rosville,  when  a  splashing  rain  fell. 

"  You  must  not  be  wet,"  said  Charles.  "  I  will  put  up 
the  top.  Aspen  is  so  steady  now,  it  may  not  scare  him." 

"  No,  no,"  I  said  ;  but  he  had  it  up  already,  and  asked 
me  to  snap  the  spring  on  my  side.  I  had  scarcely  taken  my 
arm  inside  the  chaise  when  Aspen  stopped,  turned  his  head, 
and  looked  at  us  with  glazed  eyes  ;  flakes  of  foam  flew  from 
his  mouth  over  his  mane.  The  flesh  on  his  back  contracted 
and  quivered.  I  thought  he  was  frightened  by  the  chaise- 
top,  and  looked  at  Charles  in  terror. 

"  He  has  some  disorder,"  he  cried.  "  Oh,  Cassandra  ! 
My  God  !  " 

He  tried  to  spring  at  his  head,  but  was  too  late,  for  the 
horse  was  leaping  madly.  He  fell  back  on  his  seat. 

"  If  he  will  keep  the  road,"  he  muttered. 

I  could  not  move  my  eyes  from  him.  How  pale  he  was  ! 
But  he  did  not  speak  again.  The  horse  ran  a  few  rods, 
leaped  across  a  ditch,  clambered  up  a  stone  wall  with  his 
fore-feet,  and  fell  backward  ! 

Dr.  White  was  in  my  room,  washing  my  face.  There 
was  a  smell  of  camphor  about  the  bed.  "  You  crawled  out 
of  a  small  hole,  my  child,"  he  said,  as  I  opened  my  eyes. 
It  was  quite  dark,  but  I  saw  people  at  the  door,  and  two  or 
three  at  the  foot  of  my  bed,  and  I  heard  low,  constrained 
talking  everywhere. 

"  His  iron  feet  made  a  dreadful  noise  on  the  stones, 
Doctor ! " 

I  shut  my  eyes  again  and  dozed.  Suddenly  a  great 
tumult  came  to  my  heart. 

"  Was  he  killed  ? "  I  cried,  and  tried  to  rise  from  the  bed. 
"  Let  me  go,  will  you  ?  " 

"  He  is  dead,"  whispered  Dr.  White. 

I  laughed  loudly. 

"  Be  a  good  girl — be  a  good  girl.  Get  out,  all  of  you. 
Here,  Miss  Prior." 


128  THE  MORGESONS. 

"You  are  crying,  Doctor;  my  eyes  feel  dry." 

"  Pooh,  pooh,  little  one.  Now  I  am  going  to  set  your 
arm  ;  simple  fracture,  that's  all.  The  blow  was  tempered, 
but  you  are  paralyzed  by  the  shock." 

"  Miss  Prior,  is  my  face  cut  ? " 

"  Not  badly,  my  dear." 

My  arm  was  set,  my  face  bandaged,  some  opium  admin 
istered,  and  then  I  was  left  alone  with  Miss  Prior.  I  grew 
drowsy,  but  suffered  so  from  the  illusion  that  I  was  falling 
out  of  bed  that  I  could  not  sleep. 

It  was  near  morning  when  I  shook  off  my  drowsiness 
and  looked  about ;  Miss  Prior  was  nodding  in  an  arm-chair. 
I  asked  for  drink,  and  when  she  gave  it  to  me,  begged 
her  to  lie  down  on  the  sofa  ;  she  did  not  need  urging,  and 
was  soon  asleep. 

"  What  room  is  he  in  ? "  I  thought.  "  I  must  know  where 
he  is." 

I  sat  up  in  the  bed,  and  pushed  myself  out  by  degrees, 
keeping  my  eyes  on  Miss  Prior;  but  she  did  not  stir.  I 
staggered  when  I  got  into  the  passage,  but  the  cool  air 
from  some  open  window  revived  me,  and  I  crept  on,  stop 
ping  at  Alice's  door  to  listen.  I  heard  a  child  murmur  in 
its  sleep.  He  could  not  be  there.  The  doors  of  all  the 
chambers  were  locked,  and  I  must  go  downstairs.  I  went 
into  the  garden-room — the  door  was  open,  the  scent  of  roses 
came  in  and  made  me  deadly  sick  ;  into  the  dining-room, 
and  into  the  parlor — he  was  there,  lying  on  a  table  covered 
with  a  sheet.  Alice  sat  on  the  floor,  her  face  hid  in  her 
hands,  crying  softly.  I  touched  her.  She  started  on  seeing 
me.  "  Go  away,  Gassy,  for  God's  sake  !  How  came  you 
out  of  bed  ?  " 

"Hush!  Tell  me!"  And  I  went  down  on  the  floor 
beside  her.  "  Was  he  dead  when  they  found  us  ?  " 

She  nodded. 

"  What  was  said  ?     Did  you  hear  ?  " 

"  They  said  he  must  have  made  a  violent  effort  to  save 
you.  The  side  of  the  chaise  was  torn.  The  horse  kicked 
him  after  you  were  thrust  out  over  the  wheel.  Or  did  you 
creep  out  ?" 

I  groaned.     "  Why  did  he  thrust  me  out  ?  " 

"What?" 

"  Where  is  Aspen  ?  " 


THE  MORGESONS.  129 

She  pointed  to  the  stable.  "  He  had  a  fit.  Penn  says  he 
has  had  one  before  ;  but  he  thought  him  cured.  He  stood 
quiet  in  the  ditch  after  he  had  broken  from  the  chaise." 

"  Alice,  did  you  love  him  ?  " 

"  My  husband  !  " 

A  door  near  us  opened,  and  Ben  Somers  and  young  Park 
er  looked  in.  They  were  the  watchers.  Parker  went 
back  when  he  saw  me  ;  but  Ben  came  in.  He  knelt 
down  by  me,  put  his  arm  around  me,  and  said,  "  Poor 
girl  !  "  Alice  raised  her  tear-stained  face,  looking  at  me 
curiously,  when  he  said  this.  She  took  hold  of  my  stream 
ing  hair  and  pulled  my  head  round.  "  Did  you  love  him  ?  " 
Ben  rose  quickly  and  went  to  the  window. 

"  Alice  ! "  I  whispered,  "you  may  or  you  may  not  forgive 
me,  but  I  was  strangely  bound  to  him.  And  I  must  tell 
you  that  I  hunger  now  for  the  kiss  he  never  gave  me." 

"  I  see.  Enough.  Go  back  to  your  room.  I  must  stay 
by  him  till  all  is  over." 

"  I  can't  go  back.     Ben  !  " 

"What  is  it  ?" 

"  Take  me  upstairs." 

Raising  me  in  his  arms,  he  whispered  :  "  Leave  him  for 
ever,  body  and  soul.  I  am  not  sorry  he  is  dead."  He 
called  Charlotte  on  the  way,  and  with  her  he  put  me  to  back 
to  bed.  I  asked  him  to  let  me  see  the  dress  they  had 
taken  off. 

"  That  is  enough,"  I  said,  "  Charles  broke  my  arm." 

It  was  torn  through  the  shoulder,  and  the  skirt  had  been 
twisted  like  a  rope.  Ben  made  no  reply,  but  bent  over  me 
and  kissed  me  tenderly.  All  this  time  Miss  Prior  had  slept 
the  sleep  of  the  just ;  but  he  had  barely  gone  when  she 
started  up  and  said,  "  Did  you  call,  my  dear  ? " 

"  No,  it  is  day." 

"  So  it  is  ;  but  you  must  sleep  more." 

I  could  not  obey,  and  kept  awake  so  long  that  Dr.  White 
said  he  himself  should  go  crazy  unless  I  slept. 

"  Presently,  presently,"  I  reiterated  ;  "  and  am  I  going 
home  ?  " 

At  last  my  mind  went  astray  ;  it  journeyed  into  a  dismal 
world,  and  came  back  without  an  account  of  its  adventures. 
While  it  was  gone,  my  friends  were  summoned  to  witness  a 
contest,  where  the  odds  were  in  favor  of  death.  But  I  re- 


13°  THE  MORGESONS. 

covered.  Whether  it  was  youth,  a  good  constitution,  or 
the  skill  of  Dr.  White,  no  one  could  decide.  It  was  a  faint, 
feeble,  fluttering  return  at  first.  The  faces  round  me, 
mobile  with  life,  wearied  me.  1  was  indifferent  to  exist 
ence,  and  was  more  than  once  in  danger  of  lapsing  into  the 
void  I  had  escaped. 

When  I  first  tottered  downstairs,  he  had  been  buried 
more  than  three  weeks.  It  was  a  bright  morning ;  the 
windows  of  the  parlor,  where  Charlotte  led  me,  were  open. 
Little  Edward  was  playing  round  the  table  upon  which  I 
had  seen  his  father  stretched,  dead.  I  measured  it  with  my 
eye,  remembering  how  tall  he  looked.  I  would  have  re 
treated,  when  I  saw  that  Alice  had  visitors,  but  it  was  too  late. 
They  rose,  and  offered  congratulations.  I  was  angry  that 
there  was  no  change  in  the  house.  The  rooms  should  have 
been  dismantled,  reflecting  disorder  and  death,  by  their  per 
petual  darkness  and  disorder.  It  was  not  so.  No  dust  had 
been  allowed  to  gather  on  the  furniture,  no  wrinkles  or 
stains.  No  mist  on  the  mirrors,  no  dimness  anywhere. 
Alice  was  elegantly  dressed,  in  the  deepest  mourning.  I 
examined  her  with  a  cynical  eye ;  her  bombazine  was 
trimmed  with  crape,  and  the  edge  of  her  collar  was  beauti 
fully  crimped.  A  mourning  brooch  fastened  it,  and  she 
wore  jet  ear-rings.  She  looked  handsome,  composed,  and 
contented,  holding  a  black-edged  handkerchief.  Charlotte 
had  placed  my  chair  opposite  a  glass  ;  I  caught  sight  of 
my  elongated  visage  in  it.  How  dull  I  looked  !  My  hair 
was  faded  and  rough  ;  my  eyes  were  a  pale,  lusterless  blue. 
The  visitors  departed,  while  I  still  contemplated  my  rueful 
aspect,  and  Alice  and  I  were  alone. 

"  I  want  some  broth,  Alice.     I  am  hungry." 

"  How  many  bowls  have  you  had  this  morning  ?  " 

"  Only  two." 

"You  must  wait  an  hour  for  the  third ;  it  is  not  twelve 
o'clock." 

We  were  silent.  The  flies  buzzed  in  and  out  of  the 
windows;  a  great  bee  flew  in,  tumbled  against  the  panes, 
loudly  hummed,  and  after  a  while  got  out  again.  Alice 
yawned,  and  I  pulled  the  threads  out  of  the  border  of  my 
handkerchief. 

"  The  hour  is  up  ;  I  will  get  your  broth." 

"Bring  me  a  great  deal." 


THE  MO  KG E  SONS.  13* 

She  came  back  with  a  thin,  impoverished  liquid. 

"  There  is  no  chicken  in  it,"  I  said  tearfully. 

"  I  took  it  out." 

"  How  could  you  ?"     And  I  wept. 

She  smiled.  "  You  are  very  weak,  but  shall  have  a  bit." 
She  went  for  it,  returning  with  an  infinitesimal  portion  of 
chicken. 

"What  a  young  creature  it  must  have  been,  Alice  !  " 

She  laughed,  promising  me  more,  by  and  by. 

"  Now  you  must  lie  down.  Take  my  arm  and  come  to 
the  sofa. 

"  Not  here  ;  let  us  go  into  another  room." 

"Come,  then." 

"  Don't  leave  me,"  I  begged,  after  she  had  arranged  me 
comfortably.  She  sat  down  by  me  with  a  fan. 

"  What  happened  while  I  was  ill  ?  " 

She  fanned  rapidly  for  an  instant,  taking  thought  what 
to  say. 

"  I  shot  Aspen,  a  few  days  after." 

"  With  your  own  hand  ?  " 

"  Yes." 

"  Good." 

"  Penn  protested,  said  I  interfered  with  Providence. 
Jesse  added,  also,  that  what  had  happened  was  ordained, 
and  no  mistake,  and  then  I  sent  them  both  away." 

"And  I  am  going  at  last,  Alice  ;  father  will  be  here  again 
in  a  few  days." 

"  You  did  not  recognize  Veronica,  when  they  came." 

"  Was  she  here  ? " 

"  Yes,  and  went  the  same  day.  What  great  tears  rolled 
down  her  unmovable  face,  when  she  stood  by  your  bed  ! 
She  would  not  stay  ;  the  atmosphere  distressed  her  so,  she 
went  back  to  Boston  to  wait  for  your  father.  I  could 
neither  prevail  on  her  to  eat,  drink,  or  rest." 

"  What  will  you  do,  Alice  ?  " 

"  Take  care  of  the  children,  and  manage  the  mills." 

"  Manage  the  mills  ? " 

"  I  can.  No  wonder  you  look  astonished,"  she  said,  with 
a  sigh.  "  I  am  changed.  When  perhaps  I  should  feel  that 
I  have  done  with  life,  I  am  eager  to  begin  it.  I  have 
lamented  over  myself  lately." 

"  How  is  Ben  ?  " 


132  THE  MORGESONS. 

"  He  has  been  here  often.  How  strange  it  was  that  to 
him  alone  Veronica  gave  her  hand  when  they  met !  In 
deed,  she  gave  him  both  her  hands." 

"And  he  ?  " 

"  Took  them,  bowing  over  them,  till  I  thought  he  wasn't 
coming  up  again.  I  do  not  call  people  eccentric  any 
more,"  she  said,  faintly  blushing.  "  I  look  for  a  reason  in 
every  action.  Tell  me  fairly,  have  you  had  a  contempt  for 
me — for  my  want  of  perception  ?  I  understand  you  now, 
to  the  bone  and  marrow,  I  assure  you." 

"  Then  you  understand  more  than  I  do.  But  you  will  re 
member  that  once  or  twice  I  attempted  to  express  my 
doubts  to  you  ?  " 

"Yes,  yes,  with  a  candor  which  misled  me.  But  you  are 
talking  too  much." 

"  Give  me  more  broth,  then." 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

I  WAS  soon  well  enough  to  go  home.     Father  came  for 
me,  bringing  Aunt  Merce.      There  was  no  alteration 
in  her,  except  that  she  had  taken  to  wearing  a  false 
front,  which  had  a  claret  tinge  when  the  light  struck  it,  and 
a  black  lace  cap.     She  walked  the  room  in  speechless  dis 
tress  when  she  saw  me,  and  could  not  refrain  from   taking 
an  immense  pinch  of  snuff  in  my  presence. 

"  Didn't  you  bring  any  flag-root,  Aunt  Merce  ?" 
"Oh  Lord,  Cassandra,  won't  anything  upon  earth  change 
you  ? " 

And  then  we  both  laughed,  and  felt  comfortable  together. 
Her  knitting  mania  had  given  way  to  one  she  called  trans 
ferring.  She  brought  a  little  basket  filled  with  rags,  worn- 
out  embroideries,  collars,  cuffs,  and  edges  of  handkerchiefs, 
from  which  she  cut  the  needle-work,  to  sew  again  on  new 
muslin.  She  looked  at  embroidery  with  an  eye  merely  to  its 
capacity  for  being  transferred.  Alice  proved  a  treasure  to 
her,  by  giving  her  heaps  of  fine  work.  She  and  Aunt  Merce 
were  pleased  with  each  other,  and  when  we  were  ready  to 
come  away,  Alice  begged  her  to  visit  her  every  year.  I 
made  no  farewell  visits — my  ill  health  was  sufficient  excuse  ; 


THE  MORGESONS.  133 

but  my  schoolmates  came  to  bid  me  good-bye,  and  brought 
presents  of  needlebooks,  and  pincushions,  which  I  returned 
by  giving  away  yards  of  ribbon,  silver  fruit-knives,  and 
Mrs.  Hemans's  poems,  which  poetess  had  lately  given  my 
imagination  an  apostrophizing  direction.  Miss  Prior  came 
also,  with  a  copy  of  "Young's  Night  Thoughts,"  bound  in 
speckled  leather  This  hilarious  and  refreshing  poem  re 
mained  at  the  bottom  of  my  trunk,  till  Temperance  fished 
it  out,  to  read  on  Sundays,  in  her  own  room,  where  she 
usually  passed  her  hours  of  solitude  in  hemming  dish- 
towels,  or  making  articles  called  "  Takers."  Dr.  Price 
came,  too,  and  even  the  haughty  four  Ryders.  Alice  was 
gratified  with  my  popularity.  But  I  felt  cold  at  heart, 
doubtful  of  myself,  drifting  to  nothingness  in  thought  and 
purpose.  None  saw  my  doubts  or  felt  my  coldness. 

I  shook  hands  with  all,  exchanged  hopes  and  wishes,  and 
repeated  the  last  words  which  people  say  on  departure. 
Alice  and  I  neither  kissed  nor  shook  hands.  There  was 
that  between  us  which  kept  us  apart.  A  hard,  stern  face 
was  still  in  our  recollection.  We  remembered  a  certain 
figure,  whose  steps  had  ceased  about  the  house,  whose 
voice  was  hushed,  but  who  was  potent  yet. 

"We  shall  not  forget  each  other,"  she  said. 

And  so  I  took  my  way  out  of  Rosville.  Ben  Somers  went 
with  us  to  Boston,  and  stayed  at  the  Bromfield.  In  the 
morning  he  disappeared,  and  when  he  returned  had  an 
emerald  ring,  which  he  begged  me  to  wear,  and  tried  to 
put  it  on  my  finger,  where  he  had  seen  the  diamond.  I  put 
it  back  in  its  box,  thanking  him,  and  saying  it  must  be 
stored  with  the  farewell  needlebooks  and  pincushions. 

"  Shall  we  have  some  last  words  now  ?  " 

Aunt  Merce  slipped  out,  with  an  affectation  of  not  having 
heard  him.  We  laughed,  and  Ben  was  glad  that  I  could 
laugh. 

How  do  you  feel  ?  " 
Rather  weak  still." 

I  do  not  mean  so,  but  in  your  mind  ;  how  are  you  ? " 
I  have  no  mind." 

Must  I  give  up  trying  to  understand  you,  Cassandra  ?  " 
Yes,  do.     You'll  visit  Alice  ?     You  can  divine  her  in 
tentions.     She  is  a  good  woman." 

"  She  will  be,  when  she  knows  how." 


134  THE  MORGESONS. 

11  What  o'clock  is  it  ?  " 

"  Incorrigible  !     Near  ten." 

"  Here  is  father,  and  we  must  start." 

The  carriage  was  ready  ;  where  was  Aunt  Merce? 

"  Locke,"  she  said,  when  she  came  in,  "  I  have  got  a 
bottle  of  port  for  Cassandra,  some  essence  of  peppermint, 
and  sandwiches  ;  do  you  think  that  will  do  ?  " 

"  We  can  purchase  supplies  along  the  road,  if  yours  give 
out.  Come,  we  are  ready.  Mr.  Somers,  we  shall  see  you 
at  Surrey  ?  Take  care,  Cassy.  Now  we  are  off." 

"  I  shall  leave  Rosville,"  were  Ben's  last  words. 

"  What  a  fine,  handsome  young  man  he  is  !  He  is  a 
gentleman, "said  Aunt  Merce. 

"  Of  course,  Aunt  Merce." 

"Why  of  course?  I  should  think  from  the  way  you 
speak  that  you  had  only  seen  young  gentlemen  of  his 
stamp.  Have  you  forgotten  Surrey?" 

Father  and  she  laughed.  They  could  laugh  very  easily, 
for  they  were  overjoyed  to  have  me  going  home  with  them. 
Mother  would  be  glad,  they  said.  I  felt  it,  though  I  did 
not  say  so. 

How  soundly  I  slept  that  night  at  the  inn  on  the  road  ! 
A  little  after  sunset,  on  the  third  day,  for  we  traveled 
slowly,  we  reached  the  woods  which  bordered  Surrey,  and 
soon  came  in  sight  of  the  sea  encircling  it  like  a  crescent 
moon.  It  was  as  if  I  saw  the  sea  for  the  first  time.  A 
vague  sense  of  its  power  surprised  me ;  it  seemed  to 
express  my  melancholy.  As  we  approached  the  house, 
the  orchard,  and  I  saw  Veronica's  window,  other  feelings 
moved  me.  Not  because  I  saw  familiar  objects,  nor  because 
I  was  going  home — it  was  the  relation  in  which  /stood  to 
them,  that  I  felt.  We  drove  through  the  gate,  and  saw  a 
handsome  little  boy  astride  a  window-sill,  with  two  pipes  in 
his  mouth.  "  I^apa  !  "  he  shrieked,  threw  his  pipes  down, 
and  dropped  on  the  ground,  to  run  after  us. 

"  Hasn't  Arthur  grown  ?"  Aunt  Merce  asked.  "He  is 
almost  seven." 

"  Almost  seven  ?     Where  have  the  years  gone  ? " 

I  looked  about.  I  had  been  away  so  long,  the  house 
looked  diminished.  Mother  was  in  the  door,  crying  when 
she  put  her  arms  round  me;  she  could  not  speak.  I  know 
now  there  should  have  been  no  higher  beatitude  than  to 


THE  MORGESONS.  135 

live  in  the  presence  of  an  unselfish,  unasking,  vital  love. 
I  only  said,  "  Oh,  mother,  how  gray  your  hair  is  !  Are  you 
glad  to  see  me  ?  I  have  grown  old  too  !  " 

We  went  in  by  the  kitchen,  where  the  men  were,  and  a 
young  girl  with  a  bulging  forehead.  Hepsey  looked  out 
from  the  buttery  door,  and  put  her  apron  to  her  eyes,  with 
out  making  any  further  demonstration  of  welcome.  Tem 
perance  was  mixing  dough.  She  made  an  effort  to  giggle, 
but  failed  ;  and  as  she  could  not  cover  her  face  with  her 
doughy  hands,  was  obliged  to  let  the  tears  run  their  natural 
course.  Recovering  herself  in  a  moment,  she  exclaimed  : 

"  Heavenly  Powers,  how  you're  altered  !  I  shouldn't 
have  known  you.  Your  hair  and  skin  are  as  dry  as  chips  ; 
they  didn't  wash  you  with  Castile  soap,  I'll  bet." 

"  How  you  do  talk,  Temperance,"  Hepsey  quavered. 

The  girl  with  the  bulging  forehead  laughed  a  shrill  laugh. 

"  Why,  Fanny  !  "  said  mother. 

The  hall  door  opened.  "  Here  she  is,"  muttered  this 
Fanny. 

"  Veronica  !  " 

"  Cassandra  !  " 

We  grasped  hands,  and  stared  mutely  at  each  other.  I 
felt  a  contraction  in  the  region  of  my  heart,  as  if  a  cord  of 
steel  were  binding  it.  She,  at  least,  was  glad  that  I  was 
alive  ! 

"They  look  something  alike  now,"  Hepsey  remarked. 

"  Not  at  all,"  said  Veronica,  dropping  my  hand,  and  re 
treating. 

"  Why,  Arthur  dear,  come  here  !  " 

He  clambered  into  my  lap. 

"  Were  you  killed,  my  dear  sister  ?  " 

"  Not  quite,  little  boy." 

"  Well ;  do  you  know  that  I  am  a  veteran  officer,  and 
smoke  my  pipe,  lots  ? " 

"  You  must  rest,  Gassy,"  said  mother.  "  Don't  go  up 
stairs,  though,  till  you  have  had  your  supper.  Hurry  it  up, 
Temperance." 

"It  will  be  on  the  table  in  less  than  no  time,  MissMorge- 
son,"  she  answered,  "  provided  Miss  Fanny  is  agreeable 
about  taking  in  the  teapot." 

I  had  a  comfortable  sense  of  property,  when  I  took  pos 
session  of  my  own  room.  It  was  better,  after  all,  to  live 


136  THE  MORGESONS. 

with   a  father  and   mother,  who  would  adopt   my  ideas- 
Even  the  sea   might  be   mine.     I   asked  father  the   nex 
morning,   at  breakfast,    how   far   out  at  sea  his   property 
extended. 

"  I  trust,  Cassandra,  you  will  now  stay  at  home,"  said 
mother  ;  "I  am  tired  of  table  duty;  you  must  pour  the  coffee 
and  tea,  for  I  wish  to  sit  beside  your  father." 

"  You  and  Aunt  Merce  have  settled  down  into  a  venerable 
condition.  You  wear  caps,  too  !  What  a  stage  forward  !  " 

"  The  cap  is  not  ugly,  like  Aunt  Merce's  ;  I  made  it," 
Veronica  called,  sipping  from  a  great  glass. 

"  Gothic  pattern,  isn't  it  ?  "  father  asked  ,  "  with  a  tower, 
and  a  bridge  at  the  back  of  the  neck  ?" 

•'  This  hash  is  Fanny's  work,  mother,"  said  Verry. 

"  So  I  perceive." 

"  Hepsey  is  not  at  the  table,"  I  said. 

"  It  is  her  idea  not  to  come,  since  I  have  taken  Fanny. 
Did  you  notice  her  ?  She  prefers  to  have  her  wait." 

"Who  is  Fanny?" 

"  Her  father  is  old  Ichabod  Bowles,  who  lives  on  the 
Neck.  Last  winter  her  mother  sent  for  me,  and  begged  me 
to  take  her.  I  could  not  refuse,  for  she  was  dying  of  con 
sumption  ;  so  I  promised.  The  poor  woman  died,  in  the 
bitterest  weather,  and  a  few  days  after  Ichabod  brought 
Fanny  here,  and  told  me  he  had  done  with  womankind  for 
ever.  Fanny  was  sulky  and  silent  for  a  long  time.  I 
thought  she  never  would  get  warm.  If  obliged  to  leave 
the  fire,  she  sat  against  the  wall,  with  her  face  hid  in  her 
arms.  Veronica  has  made  some  impression  on  her  ;  but 
she  is  not  a  good  girl." 

"  She  will  be,  mother.     I  am  better  than  I  was." 

"  Never  ;  her  disposition  is  hateful.  She  is  angry  with 
those  who  are  better  off  than  herself.  I  have  not  seen  a 
spark  of  gratitude  in  her." 

"  I  never  thought  of  gratitude,"  said  Verry,  "  it  is  true  ; 
but  why  must  people  be  grateful  ? " 

"  We  might  expect  little  from  Fanny,  perhaps  ;  she  saw 
her  mother  die  in  want,  her  father  stern,  almost  cruel  to 
them,  and  soured  by  poverty.  Fanny  never  had  what  she 
liked  to  eat  or  wear,  till  she  came  here,  or  even  saw  any 
thing  that  pleased  her  ;  and  the  contrast  makes  her  bitter." 

"  She  is  proud,  too,"   said   Aunt  Merce.     "  I  hear  her 


THE  MORGESONS.  137 

boasting  of  what  she  would  have  had  if  she  had  stayed  at 
home." 

"  She  is  a  child,  you  know,"  said  Verry. 

"  A  year  younger  than  you  are." 

"  Where  is  the  universal  boy  ? " 

"  Abolished,"  father  answered.     "  Arthur  is  growing  into 
that  estate." 

"  Papa,  don't  forget  that  I  am  a  veteran  officer." 

"  Here,  you  rascal,  come  and  get  this  nice  egg." 

He  slipped  down,  went  to  his  father,  who  took  him  on  his 
knee. 

"  What  shall  I  do  first  ?  the  garden,  orchard,  village,  or 
what  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  Gardens  ?  "  said  Verry.     "  Have  they  been  a  part  of 
your  education  ?  " 

"  I  like  flowers." 

"  Have  you  seen  my  plants  ? "  Aunt  Merce  inquired. 

"  I  will  look  at  them.     How  different  this  is  from  Ros- 
ville?  " 

Then  a  pang  cut  me  to  the  soul.     The  past  whirled  up,~\ 
to  disappear,  leaving  me  stunned  and  helpless.     Veronica's     \ 
eye  was  upon  me.     I  forced  myself  to  observe  her.     The      ) 
difference  between  us  was  plainer  than  ever.     I  was  in  my     / 
twentieth  year,  she  was  barely  sixteen  ;  handsome,  and  as    [ 
peculiar-looking  as  when  a  child.     Her  straight  hair  was  a     1        ,  , 
vivid  chestnut  color.     Her  large  eyes  were  near  together  ;      >  Si^* 
and,  as  Ben  Somers  said,  the  most  singular  eyes  that  were  \^ 

ever  upon  earth.  They  tormented  me.  There  was  nothing  /  y  tV  j 
willful  in  them  ;  on  the  contrary,  when  she  was  willful,  she  ' 
had  no  power  over  them  ;  the  strange  cast  was  then  percep 
tible.  Neither  were  they  imperious  nor  magnetic  ;  they 
were  baffling.  She  pushed  her  chair  from  the  table, 
and  stood  by  me  quiet.  Tall  and  slender,  she  stooped 
slightly,  as  if  she  were  not  strong  enough  to  stand  upright. 
Her  dress  was  a  buff-colored  cambric,  trimmed  with  knots 
of  ribbon  of  the  same  color,  dotted  with  green  crosses.  It 
harmonized  with  her  colorless,  fixedly  pale  complexion.  I 
counted  the  bows  of  ribbon  on  her  dress,  and  would  have 
counted  the  crosses,  if  she  had  not  interrupted  me  with, 
"  What  do  you  think  of  me  ?  " 

"  Do  you  ever  blush,  Verry  ?" 

"  I  grow  paler,  you  know,  when  I  blush." 


138  THE  MORGESONS. 

"  What  do  you  think  of  me  ?  " 

"  As  wide-eyed  as  ever,  and  your  eyebrows  as  black. 
Who  ever  saw  light,  ripply  hair  with  such  eyebrows  ?  I  see 
wrinkles,  too." 

"  Where  ? " 

"  Round  your  eyes,  like  an  opening  umbrella." 

We  dispersed  as  our  talk  ended,  in  the  old  fashion.  I 
followed  Aunt  Merce  to  the  flower-stand,  which  stood  in  its 
old  place  on  the  landing. 

"  I  have  a  poor  lot  of  roses,"  she  said,  "  but  some  splen 
did  cactuses." 

"  I  do  not  love  roses." 

"  Is  it  possible  ?  But  Verry  does  not  care  so  much  for 
them,  either.  Lilies  are  her  favorites ;  she  has  a  variety. 
Look  at  this  Arab  lily  ;  it  is  like  a  tongue  of  fire." 

"  Where  does  she  keep  her  flowers  ? " 

"  In  wire  baskets,  in  her  room.  But  I  must  go  to  make 
Arthur  some  gingerbread.  He  likes  mine  the  best,  and  I 
like  to  please  him." 

"  I  dare  say  you  spoil  him." 

"  Just  as  you  were  spoiled." 

"  Not  in  Barmouth,  Aunt  Merce." 

"  No,  not  in  Barmouth,  Gassy." 

I  went  from  room  to  room,  seeing  little  to  interest  me. 
My  zeal  oozed  away  for  exploration,  and  when  I  entered  my 
chamber  I  could  have  said,  "  This  spot  is  the  summary  of 
my  wants,  for  it  contains  me."  I  must  be  my  own  society, 
and  as  my  society  was  not  agreeable,  the  more  circumscribed 
it  was,  the  better  I  could  endure  it.  What  a  dreary  pros 
pect  !  The  past  was  vital,  the  present  dead  !  Life  in  Sur 
rey  must  be  dull.  How  could  I  forget  or  enjoy?  I  put 
the  curtains  down,  and  told  Temperance,  who  was  wander 
ing  about,  not  to  call  me  to  dinner.  I  determined,  if  possi 
ble,  to  surpass  my  dullness  by  indulgence.  But  underneath 
it  all  I  could  not  deny  that  there  was  a  specter,  whose  aim 
less  movements  kept  me  from  stagnating.  I  determined  to 
drag  it  up  and  face  it. 

"  Come,"  I  called,  "and  stand  before  me;  we  will  reason 
together." 

It  uncovered,  and  asked  : 

"  Do  you  feel  remorse  and  repentance  ?  " 

"  Neither ! " 


THE  MORGESONS.  139 

"  Why  suffer  then  ? " 

"  I  do  not  know  why." 

"  You  confess  ignorance.  Can  you  confess  that  you  are 
selfish,  self-seeking — devilish?" 

"  Are  you  my  devil  ?" 

No  answer. 

"  Am  I  cowardly,  or  a  liar  ?  " 

It  laughed,  a  faint,  sarcastic  laugh. 

"  At  all  events,"  I  continued,  "  are  not  my  actions  better 
than  my  thoughts  ?  " 

"  Which  makes  the  sinner,  and  which  the  saint  ?" 

"  Can  I  decide  ?  " 

"  Why  not  ?  " 

"  My  teachers  and  myself  are  so  far  apart  !  I  have 
found  a  counterpart ;  but,  specter,  you  were  born  of  the 
union." 

My  head  was  buried  in  my  arms  ;  but  I  heard  a  voice  at 
my  elbow — a  shrill,  scornful  voice  it  was.  "  Are  you  com 
ing  down  to  tea,  then  ?  " 

Looking  up,  I  saw  Fanny.     "  Tea-time  so  soon  ?  " 

"  Yes,  it  is.  You  think  nothing  of  time  ;  have  nothing  to 
do,  I  suppose." 

And  she  clasped  her  hands  over  her  apron — hands  so 
small  and  thin  that  they  looked  like  those  of  an  old  woman. 
Her  hair  was  light  and  scanty,  her  complexion  sallow,  and 
her  eyes  a  palish  gray  ;  but  her  features  were  delicate  and 
pretty.  She  seemed  to  understand  my  thoughts. 

"  You  think  I  am  stunted,  don't  you  ? " 

"  You  are  not  large  to  my  eye." 

"  Suppose  you  had  been  fed  mostly  on  Indian  meal,  with 
a  herring  or  a  piece  of  salted  pork  for  a  relish,  and  clams 
or  tautog  for  a  luxury,  as  I  have  been,  would  you  be  as  tall 
and  as  grand-looking  as  you  are  now  ?  And  would  you  be 
covering  up  your  face,  making  believe  worry  ?  " 

"  May  be  not.     You  may  tell  mother  that  I  am  coming." 

"  I  shall  not  say  '  Miss  Morgeson,'  but  '  Cassandra.' 
1  Cassandra  Morgeson,'  if  I  like." 

"  Call  me  what  you  please,  only  tone  down  that  voice  of 
yours  ;  it  is  sharper  than  the  east  wind." 

I  heard  her  beating  a  tattoo  on  Veronica's  door  next.  She 
had  been  taught  to  be  ceremonious  with  her,  at  least.  No 
reply  was  made,  and  she  came  to  my  door  again  '  I  ex- 


14°  THE  MORGESONS. 

pect  Miss  Veronica  has  gone  to  see  poor  folks  ;  it  is  a  way 
she  has,"  and  spitefully  closed  it. 

After  tea  mother  came  up  to  inquire  the  reason  of  my 
seclusion.  My  excuse  of  fatigue  she  readily  accepted,  for 
she  thought  I  still  looked  ill.  I  had  changed  so  much,  she 
said,  it  made  her  heart  ache  to  look  at  me.  When  I  could 
speak  of  the  accident  at  Rosville,  would  I  tell  her  all  ?  And 
would  I  describe  my  life  there  ;  what  friends  I  had  made ; 
would  they  visit  me  ?  She  hoped  so.  And  Mr.  Somers,  who 
made  them  so  hurried  a  visit,  would  he  come  ?  She  liked 
him.  While  she  talked,  she  kept  a  pitying  but  resolute  eye 
upon  me. 

"  Dear  mother,  I  never  can  tell  you  all,  as  you  wish.  It 
is  hard  enough  for  me  to  bear  my  thoughts,  without  the 
additional  one  that  my  feelings  are^understood  and  specu 
lated  upon.  If  I  should  tell  you,  the  barrier  between  me 
and  self-control  would  give  way.  You  will  see  Alice  Morge- 
son,  and  if  she  chooses  she  can  tell  you  what  my  life  was  in 
her  house.  She  knows  it  well." 

"  Cassandra,  what  does  your  bitter  face  and  voice  mean? " 

"  I  mean,  mother,  all  your  woman's  heart  might  guess,  if 
you  were  not  so  pure,  so  single-hearted." 

"  No,  no,  no." 

"  Yes." 

"  Then  I  understand  the  riddle  you  have  been,  one  to 
bring  a  curse." 

"  There  is  nothing  to  curse,  mother  ;  our  experiences  are 
not  foretold  by  law.  We  may  be  righteous  by  rule,  we  do 
not  sin  that  way.  There  was  no  beginning,  no  end,  to 
mine." 

"  Should  women  curse  themselves,  then,  for  giving  birth 
to  daughters  ?  " 

"  Wait,  mother  ;  what  is  bad  this  year  may  be  good  the 
next.  You  blame  yourself,  because  you  believe  your  igno 
rance  has  brought  me  into  danger.  Wait,  mother." 

"  You  are  beyond  me  ;  everything  is  beyond." 

"  I  will  be  a  good  girl.  Kiss  me,  mother.  I  have  been 
unworthy  of  you.  When  have  I  ever  done  anything  for 
you  ?  If  you  hadn't  been  my  mother,  I  dare  say  we  might 
have  helped  each  other,  my  friendship  and  sympathy  have 
sustained  you.  As  it  is,  I  have  behaved  as  all  young  ani 
mals  behave  to  their  mothers.  One  thing  you  may  be  sure 


THE  MORGESONS.  141 

of.     The   doubt  you   feel   is  needless.     You  must  neither 
pray  nor  weep  over  me.     Have  I  agitated  you  ?  " 

"  My  heart  will  flutter  too  much,  anyway.  Oh,  Cassy, 
Gassy,  why  are  you  such  a  girl  ?  Why  will  you  be  so 
awfully  headstrong  ? "  But  she  hugged  and  kissed  me. 
As  I  felt  the  irregular  beating  of  her  heart,  a  pain  smote 
me.  What  if  she  should  not  live  long  ?  Was  I  not  a  wicked 
fool  to  lacerate  myself  with  an  intangible  trouble — the  reflex 
of  selfish  emotions  ? 


CHAPTER   XXIII. 

VERONICA'S  room  was  like  no  other  place.  I  was  in  a 
new  atmosphere  there.  A  green  carpet  covered  tthe 
floor,  and  the  windows  had  light  blue  silk  curtains. 

"  Green  and  blue  together,  Veronica  ? " 

"  Why  not  ?  The  sky  is  blue,  and  the  carpet  of  the  earth 
is  green." 

"  If  you  intend  to  represent  the  heavens  and  the  earth 
here,  it  is  very  well." 

The  paper  on  the  wall  was  ash-colored,  with  penciled 
lines.  She  had  cloudy  days  probably.  A  large-eyed  Saint 
Cecilia,  with  white  roses  in  her  hair,  was  pasted  on  the  wall. 
This  frameless  picture  had  a  curious  effect.  Veronica,  in 
some  mysterious  way,  had  contrived  to  dispose  of  the  white 
margin  of  the  picture,  and  the  saint  looked  out  from  the  soft 
ashy  tint  of  the  wallpaper.  Opposite  was  an  exquisite  en 
graving,  which  was  framed  with  dark  red  velvet.  At  the 
end  of  an  avenue  of  old  trees,  gnarled  and  twisted  into  each 
other,  a  man  stood.  One  hand  grasped  the  stalk  of  a 
ragged  vine,  which  ran  over  the  tree  near  him  ;  the  other 
hung  helpless  by  his  side,  as  if  the  wrist  was  broken.  His 
eyes  were  fixed  on  some  object  behind  the  trees,  where 
nothing  was  visible  but  a  portion  of  the  wall  of  a  house. 
His  expression  of  concentrated  fury — his  attitude  of  wait 
ing — testified  that  he  would  surely  accomplish  his  inten 
tion. 

"What  a  picture  !  " 

"  The  foliage  attracted  me,  and  I  bought  it  ;  but  when  I 
unpacked  it,  the  man  seemed  to  come  out  for  the  first  time. 
Will  you  take  it  ?  " 


142  THE  MORGESONS. 

"  No  ;  I  mean  to  give  my  room  a  somnolent  aspect.  The 
man  is  too  terribly  sleepless." 

A  table  stood  near  the  window,  methodically  covered  with 
labelled  blank-books,  a  morocco  portfolio,  and  a  Wedgewood 
inkstand  and  vase.  In  an  arch,  which  she  had  manufac 
tured  from  the  space  under  the  garret  stairs,  stood  her  bed. 
At  its  foot,  against  the  wall,  a  bunch  of  crimson  autumn 
leaves  was  fastened,  and  a  bough,  black  and  bare,  with  an 
empty  nest  on  it. 

"Where  is  the  feminine  portion  of  your  furnishing?" 

"  Look  in  the  closet." 

I  opened  a  door.  What  had  formerly  been  appropriated 
by  mother  to  blankets  and  comfortables,  she  had  turned 
into  a  magazine  of  toilet  articles.  There  were  drawers  and 
boxes  for  everything  which  pertained  to  a  wardrobe,  ar 
ranged  with  beautiful  skill  and  neatness.  She  directed  my 
attention  to  her  books,  on  hanging  shelves,  within  reach  of 
the  bed.  Beneath  them  was  a  small  stand,  with  a  wax 
candle  in  a  silver  candlestick. 

"  You  read  o'  nights  ?  " 

"  Yes  ;  and  the  wax  candle  is  my  pet  weakness." 

"  Have  you  put  away  Gray,  and  Pope,  and  Thomson  ? " 

"  The  Arabian  Nights  and  the  Bible  are  still  there. 
Mother  thought  you  would  like  to  refurnish  your  room. 
It  is  the  same  as  when  we  moved,  you  know." 

"  Did  she  ?    I  will  have  it  done.     Good-by." 

"  Good-by." 

She  was  at  the  window  now,  and  had  opened  a  pane. 

"  What's  that  you  are  doing  ? " 

"  Looking  through  my  wicket." 

I  went  back  again  to  understand  the  wicket.  It  had  been 
made,  she  said,  so  that  she  might  have  fresh  air  in  all 
weathers,  without  raising  the  windows.  In  the  night  she 
could  look  out  without  danger  of  taking  cold.  We  looked 
over  the  autumn  fields  ;  the  crows  were  flying  seaward  over 
the  stubble,  or  settling  in  the  branches  of  an  old  fir,  stand 
ing  alone,  midway  between  the  woods  and  the  orchard. 
The  ground  before  us,  rising  so  gradually,  and  shortening 
the  horizon,  reminded  me  of  my  childish  notion  that  we 
were  near  the  North  Pole,  and  that  if  we  could  get  behind 
the  low  rim  of  sky  we  should  be  in  the  Arctic  Zone. 

"  The  Northern  Lights  have  not  deserted  us,  Veronica?" 


THE  MORGESONS.  143 

"  No  ;  they  beckon  me  over  there,  in  winter." 

"  Do  you  never  tire  of  this  limited,  monotonous  view — of 
a  few  uneven  fields,  squared  by  grim  stone  walls  ? " 

"  That  is  not  all.  See  those  eternal  travelers,  the  clouds, 
that  hurry  up  from  some  mysterious  region  to  go  over  your 
way,  where  I  never  look.  If  the  landscape  were  wider,  I 
could  never  learn  it.  And  the  orchard — have  you  noticed 
that  ?  There  are  bird  and  butterfly  lives  in  it,  every  year. 
Why,  morning  and  night  are  wonderful  from  these  windows. 
But  I  must  say  the  charm  vanishes  if  I  go  from  them. 
Surrey  is  not  lovely."  She  closed  the  wicket,  and  sat  down 
by  the  table.  My  dullness  vanished  with  her.  There 
might  be  something  to  interest  me  beneath  the  calm  surface 
of  our  family  life  after  all. 

"  Veronica,  do  you  think  mother  is  changed  ?    I  think  so." 

"  She  is  always  the  same  to  me.  But  I  have  had  fears 
respecting  her  health." 

Outside  the  door  I  met  Temperance,  with  a  clothes- 
basket. 

"  Oh  ho  ! "  she  said,  "  you  are  going  the  rounds.  Verry's 
room  beats  all  possessed,  don't  it  ?  It  is  cleaned  spick  and 
span  every  three  months.  She  calls  it  inaugurating  the 
seasons.  She  is  as  queer  as  Dick's  hatband.  Have  you 
any  fine  things  to  do  up  ?  " 

Her  question  put  me  in  mind  of  my  trunks,  and  I  hastened 
to  them,  with  the  determination  of  putting  my  room  to 
rights.  The  call  to  dinner  interrupted  me  before  I  had  be 
gun,  and  the  call  to  supper  came  before  anything  in  the 
way  of  improvement  had  been  accomplished.  My  mind 
was  chaotic  by  bed-time.  The  picture  of  Veronica,  reading 
by  her  wax  candle,  or  looking  through  the  wicket,  collected 
and  happy  in  her  orderly  perfection,  came  into  my  mind, 
and  with  it  an  admiration  which  never  ceased,  though  I  had 
no  sympathy  with  her.  We  seemed  as  far  apart  as  when 
we  were  children. 

I  was  eager  for  employment,  promising  to  perform  many 
tasks,  but  the  attempt  killed  my  purpose  and  interest.  My 
will  was  nerveless,  when  I  contemplated  Time,  which 
stretched  before  me — a  vague,  limitless  sea  ;  and  I  only 
kept  Endeavor  in  view,  near  enough  to  be  tormented. 

One  day  father  asked  me  to  go  to  Milfofd,  and  I  then 
asked  him  for  money  to  spend  for  the  adornment  of  my  room. 


144  THE  MORGESONS. 

"  Be  prudent,"  he  replied.  "  I  am  not  so  rich  as  people 
think  me.  Although  the  Locke  Morgeson  was  insured, 
she  was  a  loss.  But  you  need  not  speak  of  this  to  your 
mother.  I  never  worry  her  with  my  business  cares.  As 
for  Veronica,  she  has  not  the  least  idea  of  the  value  of 
money,  or  care  for  what  it  represents." 

When  we  went  into  the  shops,  I  found  him  disposed  to 
be  more  extravagant  than  I  was.  I  bought  a  blue  and 
white  carpet ;  a  piece  of  blue  and  white  flowered  chintz  ; 
two  stuffed  chairs,  covered  with  hair-cloth  (father  remon 
strated  against  these),  and  a  long  mirror  to  go  between  the 
windows,  astonishing  him  with  my  vanity.  What  I  wanted 
besides  I  could  construct  myself,  with  the  help  of  the  cab 
inet  maker  in  Surrey. 

In  one  of  the  shops  I  heard  a  familiar  voice,  which  gave 
me  a  thrill  of  anger.  I  turned  and  saw  Charlotte  Alden,  of 
Barmouth,  the  girl  who  had  given  me  the  fall  on  the  tilt. 
She  could  not  control  an  expression  of  surprise  at  the  sight 
of  the  well-dressed  woman  before  her.  It  was  my  dress 
that  astonished  her.  Where  could  /  have  obtained  style  ? 

"  Miss  Alden,  how  do  you  do  ?  Pray  tell  me  whether 
you  have  collected  any  correct  legends  respecting  my 
mother's  early  history.  And  do  you  tilt  off  little  girls 
nowadays?" 

She  made  no  reply,  and  I  left  her  standing  where  she  was 
when  I  began  speaking.  When  we  got  out  of  town,  my 
anger  cooled,  and  I  grew  ashamed  of  my  spitefulness,  and 
by  way  of  penance  I  related  the  affair  to  father.  He  laughed 
at  what  I  said  to  her,  and  told  me  that  he  had  long  known 
her  family.  Charlotte's  uncle  had  paid  his  addresses  to 
mother.  There  might  have  been  an  engagement ;  whether 
there  was  or  not,  the  influence  of  his  family  had  broken  the 
acquaintance.  This  explained  what  Charlotte  said  to  me 
in  Miss  Black's  school  about  mother's  being  in  love. 

"You  might  have  been  angry  with  the  girl,  but  you 
should  not  have  felt  hurt  at  the  fact  implied.  Are  you  so 
young  still  as  to  believe  that  only  those  who  love  marry  ? 
or  that  those  who  marry  have  never  loved,  except  each 
other  ?" 

"  I  have  thought  of  these  things  ;  but  I  am  afraid  that 
Love,  like  Theology,  if  examined,  makes  one  skeptical." 

We  jogged  along  in  silence  for  a  mile  or  two. 


THE  MORGESONS.  MS 

"  Whether  every  man's  children  overpower  him,  I  wonder  ? 
I  am  positively  afraid  of  you  and  Veronica." 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?  " 

"  I  am  always  unprepared  for  the  demonstrations  of  char 
acter  you  and  she  make.  My  traditional  estimate,  which 
comes  from  thoughtfulness,  or  the  putting  off  of  responsi 
bility,  or  God  knows  what,  I  find  will  not  answer.  I  have 
been  on  my  guard  against  that  which  everyday  life  might 
present — a  lie,  a  theft,  or  a  meanness  ;  but  of  the  under 
current,  which  really  bears  you  on,  I  have  known  nothing." 

"  If  you  happen  to  dive  below  the  surface,  and  find  the 
roots  of  our  actions  which  are  fixed  beneath  its  tide — what 
then  ?  Must  you  lament  over  us  ?  " 

"  No,  no ;  but  this  is  vague  talk." 

Was  he  dissatisfied  with  me  ?  What  could  he  expect  ? 
We  all  went  our  separate  ways,  it  is  true  ;  was  it  that  ? 
Perhaps  he  felt  alone.  I  studied  his  face  ;  it  was  not  so 
cheerful  as  I  remembered  it  once,  but  still  open,  honest, 
and  wholesome.  I  promised  myself  to  observe  his  tastes 
and  consult  them.  It  might  be  that  his  self-love  had  never 
been  encouraged.  But  I  failed  in  that  design,  as  in  all 
others. 

"  Much  of  my  time  is  consumed  in  passing  between  Mil- 
ford  and  Surrey,  you  perceive." 

"  I  will  go  with  you  often." 

According  to  habit,  on  arriving,  I  went  into  the  kitchen. 
It  was  dusk  there,  and  still.  Temperance  was  by  the  fire, 
attending  to  something  which  was  cooking. 

"What  is  there  for  supper,  Temperance  ?     I  am  hungry." 

"  I  spose  you  are,"  she  answered  crossly.  "  You'll  see 
when  it's  on  the  table." 

She  took  a  coal  of  fire  with  the  tongs,  and  blew  it  fiercely, 
to  light  a  lamp  by.  When  it  was  alight,  she  set  it  on  the 
chimney-shelf,  revealing  thereby  a  man  at  the  back  of  the 
room,  balancing  his  chair  on  two  legs  against  the  wail ;  his 
feet  were  on  its  highest  round,  and  he  twirled  his  thumbs. 

"  Hum,"  he  said,  when  he  saw  me  observing  him  ;  "  this 
is  the  oldest  darter,  is  it  ?" 

"  Yes,"  Temperance  bawled. 

"  She  is  a  good  solid  gal  ;  but  I  can't  recollect  her  chris 
tened  name." 

"  It  is  Cassandra." 


146  THE  MORGESONS. 

'Why,  'taint  ScripturV 

'  Why  don't  you  go  and  take  off  your  things? "  Temper 
ance  asked,  abruptly. 

1  I'll  leave  them  here  ;  the  fire  is  agreeable." 

'  There  is  a  better  fire  in  the  keeping-room." 

'  How  are  you,  Mr.  Handy  ? "  father  inquired,  coming  in. 

'  I  should  be  well,  if  my  grinders  didn't  trouble  me  ;  they 
play  the  mischief  o'nights.  Have  you  heard  from  the 
Adamant,  Mr.  Morgeson  ?  I  should  like  to  get  my  poor 
boy's  chist.  The  Lord  ha'  mercy  on  him,  whose  bones  are 
in  the  caverns  of  the  deep." 

"  Now,  Abram,  do  shut  up.  Tea  is  ready,  Mr.  Mor 
geson.  I'll  bring  in  the  ham  directly,"  said  Temperance. 

There  was  no  news  from  the  Adamant.  I  lingered  in 
the  hope  of  discovering  why  Mr.  Handy  irritated  Temper 
ance.  He  was  a  man  of  sixty,  with  a  round  head,  and  a 
large,  tender  wart  on  one  cheek  ;  the  two  tusks  under  his 
upper  lip  suggested  a  walrus.  Though  he  was  no  beauty, 
he  looked  thoroughly  respectable,  in  garments  whose  primal 
colors  had  disappeared,  and  blue  woolen  stockings  gartered 
to  a  miracle  of  tightness. 

"  Temperance,"  he  said,  "  my  quinces  have  done  fust 
rate  this  year.  I  haint  pulled  'em  yet ;  but  I've  counted 
them  over  and  over  agin.  But  my  pig  wont  weigh  nothin' 
like  what  I  calkerlated  on.  Sarved  me  right.  I  needn't 
have  bought  him  out  of  a  drove  ;  if  Charity  had  been 
alive,  I  shouldn't  ha'  done  it.  A  man  can't — I  say,  Tempy — 
a  man  cant  git  along  while  here  below,  without  a  woman." 

She  gave  my  arm  a  severe  pinch  as  she  passed  with  the 
ham,  and  I  thought  it  best  to  follow  her.  Mother  looked 
at  her  with  a  smile,  and  said  :  "  Deal  gently  with  Brother 
Abram,  Temperance." 

"  Brother  be  fiddlesticked  !  "  she  said  tartly.  "  Miss 
Morgeson,  do  you  want  some  quinces  ?  " 

"  Certainly." 

"  We'll  make  hard  marmalade  this  year,  then.  You  shall 
have  the  quinces  to-morrow."  And  she  retired  with  a  soft 
ened  face.  I  was  told  that  Abram  Handy  was  a  widower 
anxious  to  take  Temperance  for  a  second  helpmeet,  and 
that  she  could  not  decide  whether  to  accept  or  refuse  him. 
She  had  confessed  to  mother  that  she  was  on  the  fence,  and 
didn't  know  which  way  to  jump.  He  was  a  poor,  witless 


THE  MORGESONS.  147 

thing,  she  knew  ;  but  he  was  as  good  a  man  as  ever  breathed, 
and  stood  as  good  a  chance  of  being  saved  as  the  wisest 
church-member  that  ever  lived  !  Mother  thought  her  in 
clined  to  be  mistress  of  an  establishment  over  which  she 
might  have  sole  control.  Abram  owned  a  house,  a  garden, 
and  kept  pigs,  hens,  and  a  cow  ;  these  were  his  themes  of 
conversation.  Mother  could  not  help  thinking  he  was  in 
fluenced  by  Temperance's  fortune.  She  was  worth  two 
thousand  dollars,  at  least.  The  care  of  her  wood-lot,  the 
cutting,  selling,  or  burning  the  wood  on  it,  would  be  a  su 
preme  happiness  to  Abram,  who  loved  property  next  to  the 
kingdom  of  heaven.  The  tragedy  of  the  old  man's  life  was 
the  loss  of  his  only  son.  who  had  been  killed  by  a  whale  a 
year  since.  The  Adamant,  the  ship  he  sailed  in,  had  not 
returned,  and  it  was  a  consoling  hope  with  Abram  that  his 
boy's  chist  might  come  back. 

"  We  heard  of  poor  Charming  Handy's  death  the  tenth 
of  September,  about  three  months  after  Abram  began  his 
visits  to  Temperance,"  Veronica  said. 

"  Was  his  name  Charming  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  His  mother  named  him,"  Abram  said,  "  with  a  name  that 
she  had  picked  out  of  Novel's  works,  which  she  was  forever 
and  'tarnally  reading." 

'  What  day  of  the  month  is  it,  Verry  ?  " 

'Third  of  October." 

'  What  happened  a  year  ago  to-day  ?  " 

'  Arthur  fell  off  the  roof  of  the  wood-house." 

'Verry,"  he  cried,  "  you  needn't  tell  my  sister  of  that  ; 
now  she  knows  about  my  scar.  You  tell  everything  ;  she 
does  not.  You  have  scars,"  he  whispered  to  me  ;  "  they  look 
red  sometimes.  May  I  put  my  finger  on  your  cheek  ?  " 

I  took  his  hand,  and  rubbed  his  fingers  over  the  cuts  ; 
they  were  not  deep,  but  they  would  never  go  away. 

"I  wish  mine  were  as  nice  ;  it  is  only  a  little  hole  under 
my  hair.  Soldiers  ought  to  have  long  scars,  made  with 
great  big  swords,  and  I  am  a  soldier,  aint  I,  Cassy  ?  " 

"  Have  I  heard  you  sing,  Cassy  ? "  asked  father.  "  Come, 
let  us  have  some  music." 

"  '  And  the  cares  which  infest  the  day,'  "  added  Verry. 

I  had  scarcely  been  in  the  parlor  since  my  return,  though 
the  fact  had  not  been  noticed.  Our  tacit  compact  was  that 
we  should  be  ignorant  of  each  other's  movements.  I  ran 


148  THE  MORGESONS. 

up  to  my  room  for  some  music,  and,  not  having  a  lamp, 
stumbled  over  my  shawl  and  bonnet  and  various  bundles 
which  somebody  had  deposited  on  the  floor.  I  went  down 
by  the  back  way,  to  the  kitchen  ;  Fanny  was  there  alone, 
standing  before  the  fire,  and  whistling  a  sharp  air. 

"  Did  you  carry  my  bonnet  and  shawl  upstairs  ? " 

"I  did." 

"  Will  you  be  good  enough  to  take  this  music  to  the  par 
lor  for  me  ? " 

She  turned  and  put  her  hands  behind  her.  "  Who  was 
your  waiter  last  year  ?  " 

"  I  had  one,"  putting  the  leaves  under  her  arm  ;  they 
fluttered  to  the  floor,  one  by  one. 

"  You  must  pick  them  up,  or  we  shall  spend  the  night 
here,  and  father  is  waiting  for  me." 

"  Is  he  ?  "  and  she  began  to  take  them  up. 

"  I  am  quite  sure,  Fanny,  that  I  could  punish  you  aw 
fully.  I  am  sick  to  try." 

She  moved  toward  the  door  slowly.  "  Don't  tell  him," 
she  said,  stopping  before  it. 

"  I'll  tell  nobody,  but  I  am  angry.     Let  us  arrive." 

She  marched  to  the  piano,  laid  the  music  on  it,  and 
marched  out. 

"  By  the  way,  Fanny,"  I  whispered,  "  the  bonnet  and 
shawl  are  yours,  if  you  need  them." 

"  I  guess  I  do,"  she  whispered  back. 

When  I  returned  to  my  room,  I  found  it  in  order  and  the 
bundles  removed. 

One  day  some  Surrey  friends  called.  They  told  me  I 
had  changed  very  much,  and  I  inferred  from  their  tone 
they  did  not  consider  the  change  one  for  the  better. 

"  How  much  Veronica  has  improved,"  they  continued, 
"  do  not  you  think  so  ?  " 

"  You  know,"  she  interrupted,  "  that  Cassandra  has  been 
dangerously  ill,  and  has  barely  recovered." 

Yes,  they  had  heard  of  the  accident,  everybody  had  ; 
Mr.  Morgeson  must  be  a  loss  to  his  family,  a  man  in  the 
prime  of  life,  too. 

"  The  prime  of  life,"  Veronica  repeated. 

She  was  asked  to  play,  and  immediately  went  to  the 
piano.  Strange  girl  ;  her  music  was  so  filled  with  a  wild 
lament  that  I  again  fathomed  my  desires  and  my  despair. 


THE  MORGESONS.  1 49 

Her  eyes  wandered  toward  me,  burning  with  the  fires  of 
her  creative  power,  not  with  the  feelings  which  stung  me  to 
the  quick.  Her  face  was  calm,  white,  and  fixed.  She 
stopped  and  touched  her  eyelids,  as  if  she  were  weeping, 
but  there  were  no  tears  in  her  eyes.  They  were  in  mine, 
welling  painfully  beneath  the  lids.  I  turned  over  the  music 
books  to  hide  them. 

"  That  is  a  singular  piece,"  said  one.  "  Now,  Cassandra, 
will  you  favor  us  ?  We  expect  to  find  you  highly  accom 
plished." 

"  I  sang  myself  out  before  you  came  in." 

In  the  bustle  of  their  going,  Veronica  stooped  over  my 
hand  and  kissed  it,  unseen.  It  was  more  like  a  sigh  upon 
it  than  a  kiss,  but  it  swept  through  me,  tingling  the  scars 
on  my  face,  as  if  the  flesh  had  become  alive  again. 

"  Take  tea  with  us  soon,  do.  We  do  not  see  you  in 
the  street  or  at  church.  It  must  be  dull  for  you  after 
coming  from  a  boarding-school.  Still,  Surrey  has  its  advan 
tages."  And  the  doors  closed  on  them. 

"  Still,  Surrey  has  its  advantages,"  Veronica  repeated. 

"  Yes,  the  air  is  sleepy  ;  I  am  going  to  bed." 

I  made  resolutions  before  I  slept  that  night,  which  I 
kept,  for  I  said,  "  Let  the  dead  bury  its  dead." 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

HELEN'S  letters  followed    me.     She  had  heard  from 
Rosville  all  that  had  happened,  but  did  not  expatiate 
on  it.     Her  letters  were  full  of  minute  details  respect 
ing  her  affairs.     It  was  her  way  of  diverting  me  from  the 
thoughts  which  she  believed  troubled  me.     "  L.   N."  was 
expected  soon.     Since  his  last  letter,  she  had  caught  her 
self  more  than  once  making  inventories  of  what  she  would 
like  to  have  in  the  way  of  a  wardrobe  for  a  particular  occa 
sion,  which  he  had  hinted  at. 

I  heard  nothing  from  Alice,  and  was  content  that  it 
should  be  so.  Our  acquaintance  would  be  resumed  in  good 
time,  I  had  no  doubt.  Neither  did  I  hear  from  Ben  Som- 
ers.  He  very  likely  was  investing  in  another  plan.  Of  its 
result  I  should  also  hear. 


ISO  THE  MORGESONS. 

My  chief  occupation  was  to  drive  with  father.  The 
wharves  of  Milford,  the  doors  of  its  banks  and  shipping 
offices,  became  familiar.  I  witnessed  bargains  and  con 
tracts,  and  listened  to  talk  of  shipwrecks,  mutinies,  in 
surance  cases,  perjuries,  failures,  ruin,  and  rascalities. 
His  private  opinions,  and  those  who  sought  him,  were  kept 
in  the  background  ;  the  sole  relation  between  them  was — 
Traffic.  Personality  was  forgotten  in  the  absorbed  atten 
tion  which  was  given  to  business.  They  appeared  to  me, 
though,  as  if  pursuing  something  beyond  Gain,  which 
should  narcotize  or  stimulate  them  to  forget  that  man's  life 
was  a  vain  going  to  and  fro. 

Mother  reproached  father  for  allowing  me  to  adopt  the 
habits  of  a  man.  He  thought  it  a  wholesome  change  ; 
besides,  it  would  not  last.  While  I  was  his  companion  there 
were  moments  when  he  left  his  ledger  for  another  book. 

"You  never  call  yourself  a  gambler,  do  you,  Locke?" 
mother  asked.  "  Strange,  too,  that  you  think  of  Gassy  in 
your  business  life  instead  of  me." 

"  Mary,  could  I  break  your  settled  habits.  Gassy  is 
afloat  yet.  I  can  guide  her  hither  and  yon.  Moreover, 
with  her,  I  dream  of  youth." 

"  Is  youth  so  happy  ?  "  we  both  asked. 

"  We  think  so,  when  we  see  it  in  others." 

"  Not  all  of  us,"  she  said.  "  You  think  Cassandra  has 
no  ways  of  her  own  !  She  can  make  us  change  ours  ;  do 
you  know  that  ?  " 

"  May  be." 

A  habit  grew  upon  me  of  consulting  the  sea  as  soon  as  I 
rose  in  the  morning.  Its  aspect  decided  how  my  day  would 
be  spent.  I  watched  it,  studying  its  changes,  seeking  to  un 
derstand  its  effect,  ever  attracted  by  an  awful  materiality 
and  its  easy  power  to  drown  me.  By  the  shore  at  night  the 
vague  tumultuous  sphere,  swayed  by  an  influence  mightier 
than  itself,  gave  voice,  which  drew  my  soul  to  utter 
speech  for  speech.  I  went  there  by  day  unobserved,  ex 
cept  by  our  people,  for  I  never  walked  toward  the 
village.  Mother  descried  me,  as  she  would  a  distant 
sail,  or  Aunt  Merce,  who  had  a  vacant  habit  of  looking 
from  all  the  windows  a  moment  at  a  time,  as  if  she 
were  forever  expecting  the  arrival  of  somebody  who 


THE  MORGESONS.  IS  I 

never  came.  Arthur,  too,  saw  me,  as  he  played  among  the 
rocks,  waded,  caught  crabs  and  little  fish,  like  all  boys 
whose  hereditary  associations  are  amphibious.  But  Veron 
ica  never  came  to  the  windows  on  that  side  of  the  house, 
unless  a  ship  was  arriving  from  a  long  voyage.  Then  her 
interest  was  in  the  ship  alone,  to  see  whether  her  colors 
were  half-mast,  or  if  she  were  battered  and  torn,  recalling 
to  mind  those  who  had  died  or  married  since  the  ship  sailed 
from  port  ;  for  she  knew  the  names  of  all  who  ever  left 
Surrey,  and  their  family  relations. 

Weeks  passed  before  I  had  completed  the  furnishing  of 
my  room";  I  had  been  to  Helen's  wedding,  and  had 
returned,  and  it  was  still  in  progress.  The  ground  was 
covered  with  snow.  The  sea  was  dark  and  rough  under 
the  frequent  north  wind,  sometimes  gray  and  silent  in  an 
icy  atmosphere  ;  sometimes  blue  and  shining  beneath  the 
pale  winter  sun.  The  day  when  the  room  was  ready, 
Fanny  made  a  wood  fire,  which  burned  merrily,  and  encour 
aged  the  new  chairs,  tables,  carpet,  and  curtains  into  a 
friendly  assimilation ;  they  met  and  danced  on  the  round 
tops  of  the  brass  dogs.  It  already  seemed  to  me  that  I 
was  like  the  room.  Unlike  Veronica,  I  had  nothing  odd, 
nothing  suggestive.  My  curtains  were  blue  chintz,  and 
the  sofa  and  chairs  were  covered  with  the  same  ;  the 
ascetic  aspect  of  my  two  hair-cloth  arm-chairs  was  en 
tirely  concealed.  The  walls  were  painted  amber  color, 
and  varnished.  There  were  no  pictures  but  the  shin 
ing  shadows.  A  row  of  shelves  covered  with  blue  dam 
ask  was  on  one  side,  and  my  tall  mirror  on  the  other. 
The  doors  were  likewise  covered  with  blue  damask,  nailed 
round  with  brass  nails.  When  I  had  nothing  else  to 
do  I  counted  the  nails.  The  wooden  mantel  shelf,  orig 
inally  painted  in  imitation  of  black  marble,  I  covered 
with  damask,  and  fringed  it.  I  sent  Fanny  down  for 
mother  and  Aunt  Merce.  They  declared,  at  once,  they 
were  stifled  ;  too  many  things  in  the  room  ;  too  warm  ;  too 
dark  ;  the  fringe  on  the  mantel  would  catch  fire  and  burn 
me  up  ;  too  much  trouble  to  take  care  of  it.  What  was 
under  the  carpet  that  made  it  so  soft  and  the  steps  so 
noiseless  ?  How  nice  it  was  !  Temperance,  who  had  been 
my  aid,  arrived  at  this  juncture  and  croaked. 

"  Did  you  ever  see  such  a  stived-up  hole,  Mis  Morgeson  ? " 


152  THE  MORGESONS. 

"  I  like  it  now,"  she  answered,  "  it  is  so  comfortable. 
How  lovely  this  blue  is  !  " 

"  It's  a  pity  she  wont  keep  the  blinds  shut.  The  cur 
tains  will  fade  to  rags  in  no  time ;  the  sun  pours  on  'em." 

"  How  could  I  watch  the  sea  then  ? "  I  asked. 

"  Good  Lord  !  it's  a  mystery  to  me  how  you  can  bother 
over  that  salt  water." 

"  And  the  smell  of  the  sea-weed,"  added  Aunt  Merce. 

"  And  its  thousand  dreary  cries,"  said  mother. 

"  Do  you  like  my  covered  doors?  "  I  inquired. 

"I  vow,"  Temperance  exclaimed,  "  the  nails  are  put  in 
crooked  !  And  I  stood  over  Dexter  the  whole  time.  He 
said  it  was  damned  nonsense,  and  that  you  must  be  awfully 
spoiled  to  want  such  a  thing.  '  You  get  your  pay,  Dexter,' 
says  I,  '  for  what  you  do,  don't  you  ? '  'I  guess  I  do,' 
says  he,  and  then  he  winked.  '  None  of  your  gab,'  says 
I.  I  do  believe  that  man  is  a  cheat  and  a  rascal,  I  vow  I 
do.  But  they  are  all  so." 

"  In  my  young  days,"  Aunt  Merce  remarked,  "  young  girls 
were  not  allowed  to  have  fires  in  their  chambers." 

"  In  our  young  days,  Mercy,"  mother  replied,  "we  were 
not  allowed  to  have  much  of  anything." 

"  Fires  are  not  wholesome  to  sleep  by,"  Temperance 
added. 

"  Miss  Veronica  never  has  a  fire,"  piped  Fanny,  who  had 
remained,  occasionally  making  a  stir  with  the  tongs. 

"  But  she  ought  to  have  !  "  Temperance  exclaimed  vehe 
mently.  "  I  do  wonder,  Mis  Morgeson,  that  you  do  not 
insist  upon  it,  though  it's  none  of  my  business." 

Father  was  conducted  upstairs,  after  supper.  The  fire 
was  freshly  made  ;  the  shaded  lamp  on  the  table  before  the 
sofa  and  the  easy-chair  pleased  him.  He  came  often  after 
ward,  and  stayed  so  long,  sometimes,  that  I  fell  asleep,  and 
found  him  there,  when  I  woke,  still  smoking  and  watching 
the  fire. 

Veronica  looked  in  at  bed-time.  "  I  recognize  you  here," 
she  said  as  she  passed.  But  she  came  back  in  a  few  mo 
ments  in  a  wrapper,  with  a  comb  in  her  hand,  and  stood 
on  the  hearth  combing  her  hair,  which  was  longer  than  a 
mermaid's.  The  fire  was  grateful  to  her,  and  I  believe  that 
she  was  surprised  at  the  fact. 

"  Why  not  have  a  fire  in  your  room,  Verry  ?  " 


THE  MORGESONS.  153 

"  A  fire  would  put  me  out.  One  belongs  in  this  room, 
though.  It  is  the  only  reality  here." 

"  What  if  I  should  say  you  provoke  me,  perverse  girl  ?  " 

"What  if  you  should?" 

She  gathered  up  her  hair  and  shook  it  round  her  face, 
with  the  same  elfish  look  she  wore  when  she  pulled  it 
over  her  eyes  as  a  child.  It  made  me  feel  how  much  older 
I  was. 

"  I  do  not  say  so,  and  I  will  not." 

"  I  wish  you  would  ;  I  should  like  to  hear  something 
natural  from  you." 

Fanny,  coming  in  with  an  armful  of  wood,  heard  her. 
Instead  of  putting  it  on  the  fire,  she  laid  it  on  the  hearth, 
and,  sitting  upon  it  with  an  expression  of  enjoyment,  looked 
at  both  of  us  with  an  expectant  air. 

"  You  love  mischief,  Fanny,"  I  said. 

"  Is  it  mischief  for  me  to  look  at  sisters  that  don't  love 
each  other  ? "  and,  laughing  shrilly,  she  pulled  a  stick  from 
under  her,  and  threw  it  on  the  fire. 

Veronica's  eyes  shot  more  sparks  than  the  disturbed 
coals,  for  Fanny's  speech  enraged  her.  Giving  her  head  a 
toss,  which  swept  her  hair  behind  her  shoulders,  she  darted 
at  Fanny,  and  picked  her  up  from  the  wood,  with  as  much 
ease  as  if  it  had  been  her  handkerchief,  instead  of  a  girl 
nearly  as  heavy  as  herself.  I  started  up. 

"  Sit  still,"  she  said  to  me,  in  her  low,  inflexible  voice, 
holding  Fanny  against  the  wall.  "  I  must  attend  to  this 
little  demon.  Do  you  dare  to  think,"  addressing  Fanny 
with  a  gentle  vehemence,  "  that  what  you  have  just  said,  is 
true  of  me  ?  Are  you,  with  your  small,  starved  spirit,  equal 
to  any  judgment  against  her?  I  admire  her  ;  you  do,  too. 
I  love  her,  and  I  love  you,  you  pitiful,  ignorant  brat." 

Her  strength  gave  way,  and  she  let  her  go. 

"  All  declarations  in  my  behalf  are  made  to  third  persons," 
I  thought. 

"  I  do  believe,  Miss  Veronica,"  said  Fanny,  who  did  not 
express  any  astonishment  or  resentment  at  the  treatment 
she  had  received,  "  that  you  are  going  to  be  sick  ;  I  feel  so 
in  my  bones." 

"  Never  mind  your  bones.  Twist  up  my  hair,  and  think, 
while  you  do  it,  how  to  get  rid  of  your  diabolical  curiosity." 

"  I  have  had  nothing  to   do  all  my  life,"  she  answered, 


154  THE  MORGESONS. 

carefully  knotting  Verry's  hair,  "  but  to  be  curious.  I 
never  found  out  much,  though,  till  lately";  and  she  cast 
her  eyes  in  my  direction. 

"  Put  her  out,  Cassandra,"  said  Verry,  "  if  you  like  to 
touch  her." 

"  I'll  sweep  the  hearth,  if  you  please,  first,"  Fanny 
answered.  "  I  am  a  good  drudge,  you  know.  Good-night, 
ladies." 

I  followed  Veronica,  wishing  to  know  if  her  room  was 
uncomfortable.  She  had  made  slight  changes  since  my 
visit  to  her.  The  flowers  had  been  moved,  the  stand 
where  the  candle  stood  was  covered  with  crimson  cloth. 
The  dead  bough  and  the  autumn  leaves  were  gone  ;  but 
instead  there  was  a  branch  of  waving  grasses,  green  and 
fresh,  and  on  the  table  was  a  white  flower,  in  a  vase. 

"  It  is  freezing  here,  but  it  looks  like  summer.  Is  it 
design  ?" 

"Yes  ;  I  can't  sit  here  much  ;  still,  I  can  read  in  bed,  and 
write,  especially  under  my  new  quilt,  which  you  have  not 
seen." 

It  was  composed  of  red,  black,  and  blue  bits  of  silk,  and 
beautifully  quilted.  Hepsey  and  Temperance  had  made  it 
for  her. 

"  How  about  the  wicket,  these  winter  nights  ?  " 

"  I  drag  the  quilt  off,  and  wrap  it  round  me  when  I  want 
to  look  out. 

We  heard  a  bump  on  the  floor,  and  Temperance  appeared 
with  warm  bricks  wrapped  in  flannel. 

"You  know  that  I  will  not  have  those  things,"  Verry  said. 

"  Dear  me,  how  contrary  you  are  !  And  you  have  not 
eaten  a  thing  to-day." 

"  Carry  them  out." 

Her  voice  was  so  unyielding,  but  always  so  gentle  ! 
Temperance  was  obliged  to  deposit  the  bricks  outside  the 
door,  which  she  did  with  a  bang. 

"  I  should  think  you  might  sleep  in  Cassandra's  room  ; 
her  bed  is  big  enough  for  three." 

No  answer  was  made  to  this  proposition,  but  Verry  said, 

"You  may  undress  me,  if  you  like,  and  stay  till  you  are 
convinced  I  shall  not  freeze." 

"  I've  stayed  till  I  am  in  an  ager.  I  might  as  well  finish 
the  night  here,  I  spose." 


THE  MORGESONS.  i$5 

She  called  me  after  midnight,  for  she  had  not  left 
Verry,  who  had  been  attacked  with  one  of  her  mysterious 
disorders. 

"  You  can  do  nothing  for  her  ;  but  I  am  scared  out,  when 
she  faints  so  dreadful  ;  I  don't  like  to  be  alone." 

Veronica  could  not  speak,  but  she  shook  her  head  at  me 
to  go  away.  Her  will  seemed  to  be  concentrated  against 
losing  consciousness  ;  it  slipped  from  her  occasionally,  and 
she  made  a  rotary  motion  with  her  arms,  which  I  attempted 
to  stop,  but  her  features  contracted  so  terribly,  I  let  her 
alone. 

"  Mustn't  touch  her,"  said  Temperance,  whose  efforts  to 
relieve  her  were  confined  to  replacing  the  coverings  of  the 
bed,  and  drawing  her  nightgown  over  her  bosom,  which 
she  often  threw  off  again.  Her  breath  scarcely  stirred  her 
breast.  I  thought  more  than  once  she  did  not  breathe  at 
all.  Its  delicate,  virgin  beauty  touched  me  with  a  holy 
pity.  We  sat  by  her  bed  in  silence  a  long  time,  and 
although  it  was  freezing  cold,  did  not  suffer.  Suddenly  she 
turned  her  head  and  closed  her  eyes.  Temperance  softly 
pulled  up  the  clothes  over  her  and  whispered  :  "  It  is  over 
for  this  time ;  but  Lord,  how  awful  it  is  !  I  hoped  she  was 
cured  of  these  spells." 

In»a  few  minutes  she  asked,  "  What  time  is  it  ?  " 

"  It  must  be  about  eleven,"  Temperance  replied  ;  but  it 
was  nearly  four.  She  dozed  again,  but,  opening  her  eyes 
presently,  made  a  motion  toward  the  window. 

"  There's  no  help  for  it,"  muttered  Temperance,  "  she 
must  go." 

I  understood  her,  and  put  my  arm  under  Verry's  neck  to 
raise  her.  Temperance  wrapped  the  quilt  round  her,  and 
we  carried  her  to  the  window.  Temperance  pushed  open 
the  pane  ;  an  icy  wind  blew  against  us. 

"  It  is  the  winter  that  kills  little  Verry,"  she  said,  in  a 
childlike   voice.      "  God's   breath   is  cold  over  the  world,  • 
and  my  life  goes.     But  the  spring  is  coming  ;  it  will  come 
back." 

I  looked  at  Temperance,  whose  face  was  so  corrugated 
with  the  desire  for  crying  and  the  effort  to  keep  from  it, 
that  for  the  life  of  me,  I  could  not  help  smiling.  As  soon  as 
I  smiled  I  laughed,  and  then  Temperance  gave  way  to  crying 
and  laughing  together.  Veronica  stared,  and  realized  the 


IS6  THE  MORGESONS. 

circumstances  in  a  second.  She  walked  back  to  the  bed, 
laughing  faintly,  too.  "  Go  to  bed,  do.  You  have  been 
here  a  long  time,  have  you  ?  " 

I  left  Temperance  tucking  the  clothes  about  her,  kissing 
her,  and  calling  her  "  deary  and  her  best  child." 

I  could  not  go  to  bed  at  once,  for  Fanny  was  on  my 
hearth  before  the  fire,  which  she  had  rekindled,  watching 
the  boiling  of  something. 

She  has  come  to,  hasn't  she?"  stirring  the  contents  of 
the  kettle.  "  I  knew  it  was  going  to  be  so  with  her,  she 
was  so  mad  with  me.  She  is  like  the  Old  Harry  before 
she  has  a  turn,  and  like  an  angel  after.  I  am  fond  of 
people  who  have  their  ups  and  downs.  I  have  seen  her  so 
before.  She  asked  me  to  keep  the  doors  locked  once  ;  they 
are  locked  now.  Bnt  I  couldn't  keep  you  out.  The  doctor 
said  she  must  have  warm  drinks  as  soon  as  she  was  better. 
This  is  gruel." 

"  If  it  is  done,  away  with  you.  Calamity  improves  you, 
don't  it  ?  You  seem  in  excellent  spirits." 

"  First-rate  ;  I  can  be  somebody  then." 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

"QEFORE  spring  there  were  three  public  events  in  Sur- 
|3  rev-  A  lighthouse  was  built  on  Gloster  Point,  below 
our  house.  At  night  there  was  a  bridge  of  red,  tremu 
lous  light  between  my  window  and  its  tower,  which  seemed 
to  shorten  the  distance.  A  town-clock  had  been  placed  in 
the  belfry  of  the  new  church  in  the  western  part  of  the  vil 
lage.  Veronica  could  see  the  tips  of  its  gilded  hands  from 
the  top  of  her  window,  and  hear  it  strike  through  the  night, 
whether  the  wind  was  fair  to  bring  the  sound  or  not.  She 
liked  to  hear  the  hours  cry  that  they  had  gone.  Soon  after 
the  clock  was  up,  she  recollected  that  Mrs.  Grossman's  dog 
had  ceased  to  bark  at  night,  as  was  his  wont,  and  sent  her 
a  note  inquiring  about  it,  for  she  thought  there  was  some 
thing  poetical  in  connection  with  nocturnal  noises,  which 
she  hoped  Mrs.  Grossman  felt  also.  Fanny  conveyed  the 
note,  and  read  it  likewise,  as  Mrs.  Grossman  declared  her 
inability  to  read  writing  with  her  new  spectacles,  which  a 


THE  MOKGESONS.  IS 7 

peddler  had  cheated  her  with  lately.  She  laughed  at  it,  and 
sent  word  to  Veronica  that  she  was  the  curiousest  young 
woman  for  her  age  that  she  had  ever  heard  of  ;  that  the 
dog  slept  in  the  house  of  nights,  for  he  was  blind  and  deaf 
now ;  but  that  Grossman  should  get  a  new  dog  with  a  loud 
bark,  if  the  dear  child  wanted  it. 

A  new  dog  soon  came,  so  fierce  that  Abram  told  Temper 
ance  that  people  were  afraid  to  pass  Grossman's.  She 
guessed  it  wasn't  the  dog  the  people  were  afraid  of,  but  of 
their  evil  consciences,  which  pricked  them  when  they  re 
membered  Dr.  Snell. 

The  third  event  was  Mr.  Thrasher's  revival.  It  began  in 
February,  and  before  it  was  over,  I  heard  the  April  frogs 
croaking  in  the  marshy  field  behind  the  church.  We  went 
to  all  the  meetings,  except  Veronica,  who  continued  her  cus 
tom  of  going  only  on  Sunday  afternoons.  Mr.  Thrasher 
endeavored  to  proselyte  me,  but  he  never  conversed  with 
her.  His  manner  changed  when  he  was  at  our  house  ;  if 
she  appeared,  the  man  tore  away  the  mask  of  the  minister. 
She  called  him  a  Bible-banger,  that  he  made  the  dust  fly 
from  the  pulpit  cushions  too  much  to  suit  her  ;  besides, 
he  denounced  sinners  with  vituperation,  larding  his  piety 
with  a  grim  wit  which  was  distasteful.  He  was  resentful 
toward  me,  especially  after  he  had  seen  her.  It  was  need 
ful,  he  said,  from  my  influence  in  Surrey,  that  I  should 
become  an  example,  and  asked  me  if  I  did  not  think  my 
escape  from  sudden  death  in  Rosville  was  an  indication  from 
Providence  that  I  was  reserved  for  some  especial  work  ? 

Surrey  was  never  so  evangelical  as  under  his  ministra 
tion,  and  it  remained  so  until  he  was  called  to  a  larger  field 
of  usefulness,  and  offered  a  higher  salary  to  till  it.  We 
settled  into  a  milder  theocracy  after  he  left  us.  Mr.  Park 
renewed  his  zeal,  about  this  time,  resuming  his  discus 
sions  ;  but  mother  paid  little  attention  to  what  he  said. 
There  were  days  now  when  she  was  confined  to  her  room. 
Sometimes  I  found  her  softly  praying.  Once  when  I  went 
there  she  was  crying  aloud,  in  a  bitter  voice,  with  her 
hands  over  her  head.  She  was  her  old  self  when  she  recov 
ered,  except  that  she  was  indifferent  to  practical  details.  She 
sought  amusement,  indeed,  liked  to  have  me  with  her  to 
make  her  laugh,  and  Aunt  Merce  was  always  near  to  pet  her 
as  of  old,  and  so  we  forgot  those  attacks. 


158  THE  MORGESONS. 

Abram  Handy,  inspired  with  religious  fervor  during  the 
revival,  was  also  inspired  with  the  twin  passion — love — to 
visit  Temperance,  and  begged  her,  with  so  much  eloquence, 
to  marry  him  before  his  cow  should  calve,  that  she  con 
sented,  and  he  was  happy.  He  spent  the  Sunday  evenings 
with  her,  coming  after  conference  meeting,  hymn-book  in 
hand.  She  was  angry  and  ashamed,  if  I  happened  to  see 
them  sitting  in  the  same  chair,  and  singing,  in  a  quavering 
voice,  "  Greenland's  Icy  Mountains,"  and  continued  morose 
for  a  week,  in  consequence. 

"What  will  Veronica  do  without  me?"  she  said.  "I 
vow  I  wish  Abram  Handy  would  keep  himself  out  of  my 
way  ;  who  wants  him  ?  " 

"  She  will  visit  you,  and  so  shall  I." 

"  Certain  true,  will  you,  really  ?" 

"  If  you  will  promise  to  return  our  visits,  and  leave  Abiam 
at  home,  for  a  week  now  and  then." 

"  Done.  I  can  mend  your  things  and  look  after  Mis 
Morgeson.  Your  mother  is  not  the  woman  she  was,  and 
you  and  Veronica  haven't  a  mite  of  faculty.  What  you  are 
all  coming  to  is  more  than  I  can  fathom." 

"  Who  will  fill  your  place  ? " 

"  I  don't  want  to  brag,  but  you  wont  find  a  soul  in  Sur 
rey  to  come  here  and  live  as  I  have  lived.  You  will  have 
to  take  a  Paddy  ;  the  Paddies  are  spreading,  the  old  house 
keeping  race  is  going.  Hepsey  and  I  are  the  last  of  the 
Mohicans,  and  Hepsey  is  failing." 

She  was  right,  we  never  found  her  equal,  and  when  she 
went,  in  May,  a  Celtic  dynasty  came  in.  We  missed  her 
sadly.  Verry  refused  to  be  comforted.  Symptoms  of  dis 
organization  appeared  everywhere. 

In  the  summer  Helen  visited  Surrey.  Her  enlivening 
gayety  was  the  means  of  our  uniting  about  her.  She  was 
never  tired  of  Veronica's  playing,  nor  of  our  society  ;  so  we 
must  stay  where  she  and  the  piano  were.  We  trimmed  the 
parlor  with  flowers  every  day.  Veronica  transferred  some 
of  her  favorite  books  to  the  round  table,  and  privately  sent 
for  a  set  of  flower  vases.  When  they  came,  she  said  we 
must  have  a  new  carpet  to  match  them,  and  although 
mother  protested  against  it,  she  was  loud  in  her  admiration 
when  she  saw  the  handsome  white  Brussels,  thickly  covered 
with  crimson  roses.  Helen's  introduction  proved  an  aston- 


THE  MORGESONS.  1 59 

ishing  incentive  ;  we  set  a  new  value  on  ourselves.  I  never 
saw  so  much  of  Veronica  as  at  that  time  ;  her  health  im 
proved  with  her  temper.  She  threw  us  into  fits  of  laughter 
with  her  whimsical  talk,  never  laughing  herself,  but  enjoy 
ing  the  effect  she  produced.  To  please  her,  Helen  changed 
her  style  of  dress,  and  bought  a  dress  at  Milford,  which 
Veronica  selected  and  made.  The  trying  on  of  this  dress 
was  the  means  of  her  discovering  the  letters  on  Helen's 
arm,  which  never  ceased  to  be  a  source  of  interest.  She 
asked  to  see  them  every  day  afterward,  and  touched  them 
with  her  fingers,  as  if  they  had  some  occult  power. 

"  You  think  her  strange,  do  you  not  ?  "  I  asked  Helen. 

"  She  has  genius,  but  will  be  a  child  always." 

"  You  are  mistaken  ;  she  was  always  mature." 

"  She  stopped  in  the  process  of  maturity  long  ago.  It  is 
her  genius  which  takes  her  on.  You  advance  by  experi 
ence." 

"I  shall  learn  nothing  more." 

"Of  course  you  have  suffered  immensely,  and  endured 
that  which  isolates  you  from  the  rest  of  us." 

"  You  are  as  wise  as  ever." 

"  Well,  I  am  married,  you  know,  and  shall  grow  no  wiser. 
Marriage  puts  an  end  to  the  wisdom  of  women  ;  they  need 
it  no  longer." 

"  You  are  nineteen  years  old  ? " 

"  What  is  the  use  of  talking  to  you  ?  Besides,  if  we  keep 
on  we  may  tell  secrets  that  had  better  not  be  revealed.  We 
might  not  like  each  other  so  well  ;  friendship  is  apt  to  dull 
if  there  is  no  ground  for  speculation  left.  Let  us  keep  the 
bloom  on  the  fruit,  even  if  we  know  there  is  a  worm  at  the 
core." 

I  owed  it  to  her  that  I  never  had  any  confidante.  My 
proclivities  were  for  speaking  what  I  felt  ;  but  her  strong 
common-sense  influenced  me  greatly  against  it ;  her  teach 
ing  was  the  more  easy  to  me,  as  she  never  invaded  my 
sentiments. 

Her  visit  was  the  occasion  of  our  exchanging  civilities  with 
our  acquaintances,  which  we  neglected  when  alone.  Tea 
parties  were  always  fashionable  in  Surrey.  Veronica  went 
with  us  to  one,  given  by  our  cousin,  Susan  Morgeson.  She 
had  taken  tea  out  but  twice,  since  she  was  grown,  she  told  us, 
and  then  it  was  with  her  friend  Lois  Randall,  a  seamstress. 


160  THE  MORGESONS. 

To  this  girl  she  read  the  contents  of  her  blank -books,  and 
Lois  in  her  turn  confided  to  Veronica  her  own  compositions. 
Essays  were  her  forte.  We  met  her  at  Susan  Morgeson's, 
and,  as  I  never  saw  her  without  her  having  on  some  article 
given  her  by  Veronica,  this  occasion  was  no  exception. 
She  wore  an  exquisitely  embroidered  purple  silk  apron, 
over  a  dull  blue  dress.  I  saw  Verry's  grimace  when  her 
eyes  fell  on  it,  and  could  not  help  saying,  "I  hope  Lois's 
essays  are  better  than  her  taste  in  dress." 

"  She  is  an  idiot  in  colors  ;  but  she  admires  what  I  wear 
so  much  that  she  fancies  the  same  must  become  her." 

"  As  they  become  you  ?  " 

"  I  make  a  study  of  dress — an  anomaly  must.  It  may 
be  wicked,  but  what  can  I  do  ?  I  love  to  look  well." 

The  dress  she  wore  then  was  an  India  stuff,  of  linen,  with 
a  cream-colored  ground,  and  a  vivid  yellow  silk  thread 
woven  in  stripes  through  it ;  each  stripe  had  a  cinnamon- 
colored  edge.  There  were  no  ornaments  about  her,  except 
a  band  of  violet-colored  ribbon  round  her  head.  When  tea 
was  brought  in,  she  asked  me  in  a  whisper  whether  it  was 
tea  or  coffee  in  the  cup  which  was  given  her. 

"  Why,  Cass,"  said  Helen,  "are  you  making  a  wonder 
ment  because  she  does  not  know  ?  It  is  strange  that  you 
have  not  known  that  she  drinks  neither." 

"  What  does  she  drink  ?  " 

"  Is  it  eccentric  to  drink  milk  ? "  Verry  asked,  swallow 
ing  the  tea  with  an  accustomed  air.  "  I  think  this  must  be 
coffee,  it  stings  my  mouth  so." 

"  It  is  green  tea,"  said  Helen  ;  "don't  drink  it,  Verry." 

"  Green  tea,"  she  said,  in  a  dreamy  voice.  "  We  drank 
green  tea  ten  years  ago,  in  our  old  house  ;  and  I  did  not 
know  it !  Cassandra,  do  you  remember  that  I  drank  four 
cups  once,  when  mother  had  company  ?  I  laughed  all 
night,  and  Temperance  cried." 

She  contributed  her  share  toward  entertaining,  and  in 
variably  received  the  most  attention.  My  indifference  was 
called  pride,  and  her  reserve  was  called  dignity,  and  dignity 
was  more  popular  than  pride. 

Before  Helen  went,  Ben  wrote  me  that  he  was  going  to 
India.  It  was  a  favorite  journey  with  the  Belemites.  By 
the  time  the  letter  reached  me  he  should  be  gone.  Would 
1  bear  him  in  remembrance  ?  He  would  not  forget  me, 


THE  MORGESONS.  161 

and  promised  me  an  Indian  idol.  In  eighteen  months  he 
expected  to  be  at  home  again  ;  sooner,  perhaps.  P.S. 
Would  I  give  his  true  regards  to  my  sister?  N.B.  The 
property  might  be  divided  according  to  his  grandfather's 
will,  before  his  return,  and  he  wanted  to  be  out  of  the  way 
for  sundry  reasons,  which  he  hoped  to  tell  me  some  day. 
I  read  the  letter  to  Helen  and  Veronica.  Helen  laughed, 
and  said  "Unstable  as  water  ";  but  Veronica  looked  dis 
pleased  ;  she  closed  her  eyes  as  if  to  recall  him  to  mind, 
and  asked  Helen  abruptly  if  she  did  not  like  him. 

"  Yes  ;  but  I  doubt  him.  With  all  his  strength  of  char 
acter  he  has  a  capacity  for  failure." 

"  I  consider  him  a  relation,"  I  said. 

"/do  not  own   him,"  said  Veronica. 

"  At  all  events,  he  is  not  an  affectionate  one,"  Helen  re 
marked.  "  You  have  not  heard  from  him  in  a  year." 

"But  I  knew  that  I  should  hear,"  I  said. 

"  We  shall  see  him,"  said  Veronica,  "  again." 

I  was  dull  after  I  received  his  letter.  My  youth  grew  dim  ; 
somehow  I  felt  a  self-pity.  I  found  no  chance  to  embalm 
those  phases  of  sensation  which  belonged  to  my  period, 
and  I  grew  careless ;  Helen's  influence  went  with  her. 
The  observances  so  vital  to  Veronica,  so  charming  in  her, 
I  became  utterly  neglectful  of.  For  all  this  a  mad  longing 
sometimes  seized  me  to  depart  into  a  new  world,  which 
should  contain  no  element  of  the  old,  least  of  all  a  remi 
niscence  of  what  my  experience  had  made  me. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

A  LICE  MORGESON  sent  for  Aunt  Merce,  asking  her  to 
£\  fulfill  the  promise  she  had  made  when  she  was  in  Rosville. 
With  misgivings  she  went,  stayed  a  month,  and  returned 
with  Alice.  I  felt  a  throe  of  pain  when  we  met,  which  she 
must  have  seen,  for  she  turned  pale,  and  the  hand  she  had 
extended  toward  me  fell  by  her  side  ;  overcoming  the  im 
pulse,  she  offered  it  again,  but  I  did  not  take  it.  I  had  no 
evidence  to  prove  that  she  came  to  Surrey  on  my  account ; 
but  I  was  sure  that  such  was  the  fact,  as  I  was  sure  that 
there  was  a  bond  between  us,  which  she  did  not  choose  to 


1 62  THE  MORGESONS. 

break,  nor  to  acknowledge.  She  appeared  as  if  expecting 
some  explanation  or  revelation  from  me  ;  but  I  gave  her 
none,  though  I  liked  her  better  than  ever.  She  was  busi 
ness-like  and  observant.  Her  tendencies,  never  romantic, 
were  less  selfish  ;  it  was  no  longer  society,  dress,  house 
keeping,  which  absorbed  her,  but  a  larger  interest  in  the 
world  which  gave  her  a  desire  to  associate  with  men  and 
women,  independent  of  caste.  None  of  her  children  were 
with  her ;  had  it  been  three  years  earlier,  she  would  not 
have  left  home  without  them.  Her  hair  was  a  little  gray, 
and  a  wrinkle  or  two  had  gathered  about  her  mouth  ;  but 
there  was  no  other  change.  I  was  not  sorry  to  have  her  go, 
for  she  paid  me  a  close  and  quiet  observation.  At  the 
moment  of  departure,  she  said  in  an  undertone  :  "  What 
has  become  of  that  candor  of  which  you  were  so  proud  ?  " 

"I  am  more  candid  than  ever,"  I  answered,  "for  I  am 
silent." 

"  I  understand  you  better,  now  that  I  have  seen  you  en 
famille" 

"  What  do  you  think  now  ? " 

"  I  don't  think  I  know  ;  the  Puritans  have  much  to 
answer  for  in  your  mother — "  Turning  to  her  she  said, 
"  My  children,  too,  are  so  different." 

Mother  gave  her  a  sad  smile,  as  Fanny  announced  the 
carriage,  and  they  drove  away. 

"  No  more  visitors  this  year,"  said  Veronica,  yawning. 

"  No  agreeable  ones,  I  fancy,"  I  answered. 

"All  the  relations  have  had  their  turn  for  this  year,"  re 
marked  Aunt  Merce.  But  she  was  mistaken  ;  an  old  lady 
came  soon  after  this  to  spend  the  winter.  She  lived  but 
four  miles  from  Surrey,  but  brought  with  her  all  her  clothes, 
and  a  large  green  parrot,  which  her  son  had  brought  from 
foreign  parts.  Her  name  was  Joy  Morgeson  ;  the  fact  of 
her  being  cousin  to  father's  grandmother  entitled  her  to  a 
raid  upon  us  at  any  season,  and  to  call  us  "  cousins."  She 
felt,  she  said,  that  she  must  come  and  attend  the  meetings 
regular,  for  her  time  upon  earth  was  short.  But  Joy  was  a 
hearty  woman  still,  and,  pious  as  she  was,  delighted  in 
rough  and  scandalous  stories,  the  telling  of  which  gave  her 
severe  fits  of  repentance.  She  quilted  elaborate  petticoats 
for  us,  knit  stockings  for  Arthur,  and  was  useful.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Elisha  Peckham  surprised  us  next.  They  arrived 


THE  MORGESONS.  163 

from  "  up  country  "  and  stayed  two  weeks.  I  did  not  clearly 
understand  why  they  came  before  they  went  ;  but  as  they 
enjoyed  their  visit,  it  was  of  little  consequence  whether  I 
did  or  not. 

Midwinter  passed,  and  we  still  had  company.  There 
was  much  to  do,  but  it  was  done  without  system.  Mother 
or  Aunt  Merce  detailed  from  their  ordinary  duties  as  keeper 
of  the  visitors,  Fanny  was  for  the  first  time  able  to  make 
herself  of  importance  in  the  family  tableaux,  and  assumed 
cares  no  one  had  thought  of  giving  her.  She  left  the  town- 
school,  telling  mother  that  learning  would  be  of  no  use  to 
her.  The  rights  of  a  human  being  merely  was  what  she 
wanted  ;  she  should  fight  for  them  ;  that  was  what  paupers 
must  do.  Mother  allowed  her  to  do  as  she  pleased.  Her 
duties  commenced  with  calling  us  up  to  breakfast  en  masse, 
and  for  once  the  experiment  was  successful,  for  we  all  met 
at  the  table.  The  dining-room  was  in  complete  order,  a 
thing  that  had  never  happened  early  before  ;  the  rest  of  us 
missed  the  straggling  breakfast  which  consumed  so  much 
time. 

"  Whose  doing  is  this  ? "  asked  father,  looking  round  the 
table. 

"  It  is  Fanny's,"  I  answered,  rattling  the  cups.  "  All 
the  coffee  to  be  poured  out  at  once,  don't  agitate  me." 

Fanny,  bearing  buckwheat  cakes,  looked  proud  and  mod 
est,  as  people  do  who  appreciate  their  own  virtues. 

"  Why,  Fanny,"  said  the  father,  "  you  have  done  won 
ders  ;  you  are  more  original  than  Gassy  or  Verry." 

Her  green  eyes  glowed  ;  her  aspect  was  so  feline  that  I 
expected  her  hair  to  rise. 

"  Father's  praise  pleases  you  more  than  ours,"  Verry  said. 

"  You  never  gave  me  any,"  she  answered,  marching  out. 

Father  looked  up  at  Verry,  annoyed,  but  said  nothing. 
We  paid  no  attention  to  Fanny's  call  afterward  ;  but  she 
continued  her  labors,  which  proved  acceptable  to  him. 
Temperance  told  me,  when  she  was  with  us  for  a  week,  that 
his  overcoats,  hats,  umbrellas,  and  whips  never  had  such 
care  as  Fanny  gave  them.  He  omitted  from  this  time  to 
ask  us  if  we  knew  where  his  belongings  were,  but  went  to 
Fanny ;  and  I  noticed  that  he  required  much  attendance. 

Temperance,  who  had  arrived  in  the  thick  of  the  com 
pany,  as  she  termed  it,  was  sorry  to  go  back  to  Abram. 


1 64  THE  MORGESONS. 

He  was  a  good  man,  she  said  ;  but  it  was  a  dreadful  thing 
for  a  woman  to  lose  her  liberty,  especially  when  liberty 
brought  so  much  idle  time.  "  Why,  girls,  I  have  quilted 
and  darned  up  every  rag  in  the  house.  He  will  do  half 
the  housework  himself  ;  he  is  an  everlasting  Betty."  She 
was  cheerful,  however,  and  helped  Hepsey,  as  well  as  the 
rest  of  us. 

The  guests  did  not  encroach  on  my  time,  but  it  was  a 
relief  to  have  them  gone  and  the  house  our  own  once 
more. 

I  went  to  Milford  again,  almost  daily,  to  feast  my  eyes 
on  the  bleak,  flat,  gray  landscape.  The  desolation  of  win 
ter  sustains  our  frail  hopes.  Nature  is  kindest  then  ;  she 
does  not  taunt  us  with  fruition.  It  is  the  luxury  of  summer 
which  tantalizes — her  long,  brilliant,  blossoming  days,  her 
dewy,  radiant  nights. 

Entering  the  house  one  March  evening,  when  it  was  unus 
ually  still,  I  had  reached  the  front  hall,  when  masculine 
tones  struck  my  ears.  I  opened  the  parlor  door  softly,  and 
saw  Ben  Somers  in  an  easy-chair,  basking  before  a  glowing 
fire,  his  luminous  face  set  toward  Veronica,  who  was  near 
him,  holding  a  small  screen  between  her  and  the  fire.  "  She 
is  always  ready,"  I  thought,  contemplating  her  as  I  would  a 
picture.  Her  ruby-colored  merino  dress  absorbed  the 
light ;  she  was  a  mass  of  deep  red,  except  her  face  and  hair, 
above  which  her  silver  crescent  comb  shone.  Her  slender 
feet  were  tapping  the  rug.  She  wore  boots  the  color  of  her 
dress  ;  Ben  was  looking  at  them.  Mother  was  there,  and 
in  the  background  Aunt  Merce  and  Fanny  figured.  I 
pushed  the  door  wide  ;  as  the  stream  of  cold  air  reached 
them,  they  looked  toward  it,  and  cried — "  Cassandra  !  " 
Ben  started  up  with  extended  hands. 

"  I  went  as  far  as  Cape  Horn  only,  but  I  bought  you  the 
idol  and  lots  of  things  I  promised  from  a  passing  ship.  I 
have  been  home  a  week,  and  I  am  here.  Are  you  glad  ? 
Can  I  stay  ? " 

"  Yes,  yes,"  chorused  the  company,  and  I  was  too  busy 
trying  to  get  off  my  gloves  to  speak.  Father  came  in,  and 
welcomed  him  with  warmth.  Fanny  ran  out  for  a  lamp  ; 
when  she  brought  it,  Veronica  changed  the  position  of  her 
screen,  and  held  it  close  to  her  face. 

"  Did  you  have  a  cold  ride,  Locke  ?  "  asked  mother,  gaz- 


THE  MORGESONS.  165 

ing  into  the  fire  with  that  expression  of  satisfaction  we  have 
when  somebody  beside  ourselves  has  been  exposed  to 
hardships.  It  is  the  same  principle  entertained  by  those 
who  depend  upon  and  enjoy  seeing  criminals  hung. 

Meanwhile  my  bonnet-strings  got  in  a  knot,  which 
Fanny  saw,  and  was  about  to  apply  scissors,  when  Aunt 
Merce,  unable  to  bear  the  sacrifice,  interfered  and  untied 
them,  all  present  so  interested  in  the  operation  that  conver 
sation  was  suspended.  Presently  Aunt  Merce  was  called 
out,  and  was  shortly  followed  by  mother  and  Fanny.  Ben 
stood  before  me ;  his  eyes,  darting  sharp  rays,  pierced 
me  through  ;  they  rested  on  the  thread-like  scars  which 
marked  my  cheek,  and  which  were  more  visible  from  the 
effect  of  cold. 

"  Tattooed  still,"  I  said  in  a  low  voice,  pointing  to  them. 

"  I  see  " — a  sorrowful  look  crossed  his  face  ;  he  took  my 
hand  and  kissed  it.  Veronica,  who  had  dropped  the  screen, 
met  my  glance  toward  her  with  one  perfectly  impassive. 
As  they  watched  me,  I  saw  myself  as  they  did.  A  tall  girl 
in  gray,  whose  deep,  controlled  voice  vibrated  in  their  ears, 
like  the  far-off  sounds  we  hear  at  night  from  woods  or  the 
sea,  whose  face  was  ineffaceably  marked,  whose  air  impressed 
with  a  sense  of  mystery.  I  think  both  would  have  annihi 
lated  my  personality  if  possible,  for  the  sake  of  compre 
hending  me,  for  both  loved  me  in  their  way. 

"  What  are  you  reading,  father  ? "  asked  Veronica  suddenly. 

"  To-day's  letters,  and  I  must  be  off  for  Boston  ;  would 
you  like  to  go?" 

"  My  sister  Adelaide  has  sent  for  you,  Cassandra,  to 
visit  us,"  said  Ben,  "  and  will  you  go  too,  Veronica  ? " 

"  Thanks,  I  must  decline.  If  Cass  should  go — and  she 
will — I  may  go  to  Boston." 

He  looked  at  her  curiously.  "  It  would  not  be  pleasant 
for  you  to  attempt  Belem.  I  hate  it,  but  I  feel  a  fate-impell 
ing  power  in  regard  to  Cassandra  ;  I  want  her  there." 

"  May  I  go  then  ?  "  I  asked. 

"Certainly,"  father  replied. 

"  Please  come  out  to  supper,"  called  Fanny.  "  We  have 
something  particular  for  you,  Mr.  Morgeson." 

We  saw  mother  at  the  table,  a  book  in  her  hand.  She  was 
finishing  a  chapter  in  "  The  Hour  and  the  Man."  Aunt 
Merce  stood  eyeing  the  dishes  with  the  aspect  of  a  judge. 


1 66  THE  MORGESONS. 

As  father  took  his  seat,  near  Veronica,  Fanny,  according  to 
habit,  stood  behind  it.  With  the  most  degagJ  air,  Ben 
suffered  nothing  to  escape  him,  and  I  never  forgot  the  pic 
ture  of  that  moment. 

We  talked  of  Helen's  visit — a  subject  that  could  be  com 
mented  on  freely.  Veronica  told  Ben  Helen's  opinion  of 
him  ;  he  reddened  slightly,  and  said  that  such  a  sage  could 
not  be  contradicted.  When  father  remarked  that  the 
opinions  of  women  were  whimsical,  Fanny  gave  an  audible 
sniff,  which  made  Ben  smile. 

Soon  after  tea  I  met  Veronica  in  the  hall,  with  a  note  in 
her  hand.  She  stopped  and  hesitatingly  said  that  she  was 
going  to  send  for  Temperance  ;  she  wanted  her  while  Mr. 
Somers  stayed. 

"  Your  forethought  astonishes  me." 

"  She  is  a  comfort  always  to  me." 

"  Do  you  stand  in  especial  need  of  a  comforter  ? " 

She  looked  puzzled,  laughed,  and  left  me. 

Temperance  arrived  that  evening,  in  time  to  administer 
a  scolding  to  Fanny. 

"  That  girl  needs  looking  after,"  she  said.  "  She  is  as 
sharp  as  a  needle.  She  met  me  in  the  yard  and  told  me 
that  a  man  fit  for  a  nobleman  had  come  on  a  visit.  '  It 
may  be  for  Cass,'  says  she,  '  and  it  may  not  be.  I  have  my 
doubts.'  Did  you  ever?"  concluded  Temperance, counting 
the  knives.  "  There's  one  missing.  By  jingo  !  it  has  been 
thrown  to  the  pigs,  I'll  bet." 

When  Ben  made  a  show  of  going,  we  asked  him  to  stay 
longer.  He  said  "  Yes,"  so  cordially,  that  we  laughed.  But 
it  hurt  me  to  see  that  he  had  forgotten  all  about  my  going  to 
Belem.  "  I  like  Surrey  so  much,"  he  said,  "  and  you  all,  I 
have  a  fancy  that  I  am  in  the  Hebrides,  in  Magnus  Troil's 
dwelling  ;  it  is  so  wild  here,  so  naive.  The  unadulterated 
taste  of  sea-spray  is  most  beautiful." 

"  We  will  have  Cass  for  Norna,"  said  Verry  ;  "but,  by 
the  way,  it  is  you  that  must  be  of  the  fitful  head  ;  have  you 
forgotten  that  she  is  going  to  Belem  soon  ?" 

"  I  shall  remember  Belem  in  good  time  ;  no  fear  of  my 
forgetting  that  ace — ancient  spot.  At  least  I  may  wait  till 
your  father  goes  to  Boston,  and  we  can  make  a  party.  You 
will  be  ready,  Cassandra  ?  I  wrote  Adelaide  yesterday  that 
you  were  coming,  and  mother  will  expect  you." 


THE  MORGESONS.  I&7 

It  often  stormed  during  his  visit.  We  had  driving  rains, 
and  a  gale  from  the  southeast,  oceanward,  which  made  our 
sea  dark  and  miry,  even  after  the  storm  had  ceased  and 
patches  of  blue  sky  were  visible. 

Our  rendezvous  was  in  the  parlor,  which,  from  the  way  in 
which  Ben  knocked  about  the  furniture,  cushions,  and  books, 
assumed  an  air  which  somehow  subdued  Veronica's  love  for 
order  ;  she  played  for  him,  or  they  read  together,  and  some 
times  talked  ;  he  taught  her  chess,  and  then  they  quarreled. 
One  day — a  long  one  to  me, — they  were  so  much  absorbed 
in  each  other,  I  did  not  seek  them  till  dusk. 

"  Come  and  sing  to  me,"  called  Ben. 

"  So  you  remember  that  I  do  sing  ? " 

"Sing  ;  there  is  a  spell  in  this  weird  twilight ;  sing,  or  I 
go  out  on  the  rocks  to  break  it." 

He  dropped  the  window  curtains  and  sat  by  me  at  the 
piano,  and  I  sang  : 

"  I  feel  the  breath  of  the  summer  night, 

Aromatic  fire  ; 

The  trees,  the  vines,  the  flowers  are  astir 
With  tender  desire. 

If  I  were  alone,  I  could  not  sing, 

Praises  to  thee  ; 
O  night  !   unveil  the  beautiful  soul 

That  awaiteth  me  !  " 

"  A  foolish  song,"  said  Veronica,  pulling  her  hair  across 
her  face.  No  reply.  She  glided  to  the  flower-basket, 
broke  a  rosebud  from  its  stalk,  and  mutely  offered  it  to 
him.  Whether  he  took  it,  I  know  not ;  but  he  rose  up  from 
beside  me,  like  a  dark  cloud,  and  my  eyes  followed  him. 

"  Come  Veronica,"  he  whispered,  "  give  me  yourself.  I 
love  you,  Veronica." 

He  sank  down  before  her  ;  she  clasped  her  hands  round 
his  head,  and  kissed  his  hair. 

"  I  know  it,"  she  said,  in  a  clear  voice. 

I  shut  the  door  softly,  thinking  of  the  Wandering  Jew, 
went  upstairs,  humming  a  little  air  between  my  teeth,  and 
came  down  again  into  the  dining-room,  which  was  in  a 
blaze  of  light. 

"  What  preserves  are  these,  Temperance  ?  "  I  asked, 
going  to  the  table.  "  Some  of  Abram's  quinces  ?  " 


1 68  THE  MORGESONS. 

"  Best  you  ever  tasted,  since  you  were  born." 

"  Call  Mr.  Somers,  Fanny,"  said  mother.  "  Is  Verry  in 
the  parlor,  too  ?  " 

"  I'll  call  them,"  I  said  ;  "  I  have  left  my  handkerchief 
there." 

"Is  anything  else  of  yours  there  ?"  said  Fanny,  close  to 
my  ear. 

Ben  had  pushed  back  the  curtain,  and  was  staring  into 
the  darkness  ;  Veronica  was  walking  to  and  fro  on  the  rug. 

"Haven't  I  a  great  musical  talent  ?  "  I  inquired. 

"  Am  I  happy  ?  "  she  asked,  coming  toward  me. 

Ben  turned  to  speak,  but  Veronica  put  her  hand  over  his 
mouth,  and  said  : 

"  Why  should  I  be  '  hushed,'  my  darling  ? " 

"  Come  to  supper,  and  be  sensible,"  I  urged. 

The  light  revealed  a  new  expression  in  Verry's  face — an 
unsettled,  dispossessed  look  ;  her  brows  were  knitted,  yet 
she  smiled  over  and  over  again,  while  she  seemed  hardly 
aware  that  she  was  eating  like  an  ordinary  mortal.  The 
imp  Fanny  tried  experiments  with  her,  by  offering  the  same 
dishes  repeatedly,  till  her  plate  was  piled  high  with  food  she 
did  not  taste. 

The  next  day  was  clear,  and  mild  with  spring.  Ben  and 
I  started  for  a  walk  on  the  shore.  We  were  half-way  to 
th*.  lighthouse  before  he  asked  why  it  was  that  Veronica 
would  not  come  with  us. 

"  She  never  walks  by  the  shore  ;  she  detests  the  sea." 

"  Is  it  so  ?     I  did  not  know  that." 

"  Do  you  mind  that  you  know  few  of  her  tastes  or  habits  ? 
I  speak  of  this  as  a  general  truth." 

"  I  am  a  spectacle  to  you,  I  suppose.  But  this  sea 
charms  me  ;  I  shall  live  by  it,  and  build  a  house  with  all 
the  windows  and  doors  toward  it." 

"  Not  if  you  mean  to  have  Verry  in  it." 

"  I  do  mean  to  have  her  in  it.  She  shall  like  it.  Are 
you  willing  to  have  me  for  a  brother  ?  Will  you  go  to 
Belem,  and  help  break  the  ice  ?  She  could  never  go,"  and 
he  began  to  skip  pebbles  in  the  water. 

"  I  will  take  you  for  a  brother  gladly.  You  are  a  fool — 
not  for  loving  her,  but  all  men  are  fools  when  in  love,  they 
are  so  besotted  with  themselves.  But  I  am  afraid  of  one 
fault  in  you." 


THE  MORGESONS.  169 

"Yes,"  he  answered  hurriedly,  "don't  I  know  ?  On  my 
honor,  I  have  tried  ;  why  not  leave  me  to  God  ?  Didn't 
you  leave  yourself  that  way  once  ? " 

"  Oh,  you  are  cruel." 

"  Pardon  me,  dear  Cass.  I  must  do  well  now,  surely. 
Will  you  believe  in  me  ?  Oh,  do  you  not  know  the  strength, 
the  power,  that  comes  to  us  in  the  stress  of  passion  and 
duty  ? " 

"  This  from  you,  Ben." 

"  Never  mind  ;  I  knew  I  wanted  to  marry  her,  when  I 
saw  her.  I  love  her  passionately,"  and  he  threw  a  pebble 
in  the  water  farther  than  he  had  yet ;  "but  she  is  so  pure, 
so  delicate,  that  when  I  approach  her,  in  spite  of  my  be- 
sottedness,  my  love  grows  lambent.  That's  not  like  me, 
you  know,"  with  great  vehemence.  "  Will  she  never  under- 
stand  me  ?" 

His  face  darkened,  and  he  looked  so  strangely  intent 
into  my  eyes  that  I  was  obliged  to  turn  away  ;  he  dis 
turbed  me. 

"  Veronica  probably  will  not  understand  you,  but  you 
must  manage  for  yourself.  As  you  have  discerned,  she  and 
I  are  far  apart.  She  is  pure,  noble,  beautiful,  and  peculiar. 
I  will  have  no  voice  between  you." 

"  You  must,  you  do.  We  shall  hear  it  if  you  do  not 
speak.  You  have  a  great  power,  tall  enchantress." 

"  Certainly.     What  a  powerful  life  is  mine  ! " 

"  You  come  to  these  shores  often.  Are  you  not  different 
beside  them  ?  This  colorless  picture  before  us — these 
vague  spaces  of  sea  and  land — the  motion  of  the  one — the 
stillness  of  the  other — have  you  no  sense  that  you  have  a 
powerful  spirit  ?" 

"  Is  it  power  ?     It  is  pain." 

"  Your  gold  has  not  been  refined  then." 

"  Yes,  I  confess  I  have  a  sense  of  power  ;  but  it  is  not  a 
spiritual  sense." 

"  Let  us  go  back,"  he  said  abruptly. 

We  mused  by  our  footprints  in  the  wet  sand,  as  we  passed 
them.  We  were  told  when  we  reached  home  that  Veronica 
had  gone  on  some  expedition  with  Fanny.  She  did  not 
return  till  time  for  supper,  looking  elfish,  and  behaving 
whimsically,  as  if  she  had  received  instructions  accordingly. 
I  fancied  that  the  expression  Ben  regarded  her  with  might 


17°  THE   MORGESONS. 

be  the  Bellevue  Pickersgill  expression,  it  was  so  different 
from  any  I  had  seen.  There  was  a  haughty  curiosity  in 
his  face  ;  as  she  passed  near  him,  he  looked  into  her  eyes, 
and  saw  the  strange  cast  which  made  their  sight  so  far  off. 

"  Veronica,  where  are  you  ? "  he  asked. 

The  tone  of  his  voice  attracted  mother's  regards  ;  an 
intelligent  glance  was  exchanged,  and  then  her  eyes  sought 
mine.  "  It  is  not  as  you  thought,  mamma,"  I  telegraphed. 
But  Verry,  not  bringing  her  eyes  back  into  the  world, 
merely  said,  "  I  am  here,  am  I  not  ? "  and  went  to  shut  her 
self  up  in  her  room.  I  found  her  there,  looking  through 
the  wicket. 

"  The  buds  are  beginning  to  swell,"  she  said.  "  I  should 
hear  small  voices  breaking  out  from  the  earth.  I  grow 
happy  every  day  now." 

"  Because  the  earth  will  be  green  again  ? "  I  asked,  in  a 
coaxing  voice. 

She  shut  the  wicket,  and,  looking  in  my  face,  said,  "  I 
will  go  down  immediately."  For  some  reason  the  tears 
came  into  my  eyes,  which  she,  taking  up  the  candle,  saw. 
"  I  am  going  to  play,"  she  said  hurriedly,  "  come."  She  ran 
down  before  me,  but  turning,  by  the  foot  of  the  stairs,  she 
pointed  to  the  parlor  door,  and  said,  "  Is  he  my  husband  ? " 

"  Answer  for  yourself.     Go  in,  in  God's  name." 

Ben  was  chatting  with  father  over  the  fire  ;  he  stretched 
out  his  hand  to  her,  with  so  firm  and  assured  an  air,  and 
looked  so  noble,  that  I  felt  a  pang  of  admiration  for  him. 
She  laid  her  hand  in  his  a  moment,  passed  on  to  the  piano, 
and  began  to  play  divinely,  drawing  him  to  her  side. 
Father  peeled  and  twisted  his  cigar,  as  he  contemplated 
them  with  a  thoughtful  countenance. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

WHEN  we  went  to  Boston  we  went  to  a  new  hotel,  as 
Ben  had  advised,  deserting  the  old  Bromfield  for  the 
Tremont.     It  was  dusk  when  we  arrived,  and  tea  was 
served  immediately,  in  a  large  room  full  of  somber  mahogany 
furniture.     Its  atmosphere  oppressed  Veronica,  who  ate  her 
supper  in  silence. 


THE  MORGESONS.  *7  * 

"  Charles  Dickens  is  here,  sir,"  said  the  waiter,  who  knew 
Ben.  "  Two  models  of  the  Curiosity  Shop  have  just  gone 
upstairs,  sir.  His  room  is  right  over  here,  sir." 

Veronica  looked  adoringly  at  the  ceiling. 

"  Then,"  said  Ben,  "  our  hunters  are  up  from  Belem. 
Anybody  in  from  Belem,  John  ?  " 

"Oh  yes,  sir,  every  day." 

"  I'll  look  them  up,"  he  said  to  us  ;  but  he  returned  soon, 
and  begged  us  not  to  look  at  Dickens,  if  we  had  a  chance. 

Veronica,  with  a  sigh,  gave  him  up,  and  lost  a  chance  of 
being  immortalized  with  that  perpetual  and  imperturbable 
beefsteak,  covered  with  "  the  blackest  of  all  possible  pep 
per,"  which  was  daily  served  to  him. 

Father  being  out  in  pursuit  of  a  cigar,  Ben  asked  Veronica 
what  she  would  do  while  he  was  in  Belem. 

'  Walk  round  this  lion-clawed  table." 

'  I  shall  be  gone  from  you." 

'  Alas  !  " 

'  Are  we  to  part  this  way  ? " 

'  Father,"  she  cried,  as  he  entered  with  a  theater  bill, 
"'  had  I  better  marry  this  friend  of  Cassy's?  " 

"  Have  you  the  courage  ?  Do  you  know  each 
other  ?  " 

"  Having  known  Cassandra  so  long,  sir,"  began  Ben,  but 
was  interrupted  by  Veronica's  exclaiming,  "  We  do  not 
know  each  other  at  all.  What  is  the  use  of  making  that 
futile  attempt  ?  I  am  over  eighteen,  and  do  you  know  me, 
father?" 

"  If  I  do  not,  it  is  because  you  have  no  shadow." 

"Shall  I,  then?"  giving  Ben  a  delicious  smile.  "I 
promise." 

"  I  promise,  too,  Veronica,"  heaven  dawning  in  his  eyes. 

"  We  will  see  about  it,"  said  father.  "  Now  who  will  go 
to  the  theater  ?  " 

We  declined,  but  Ben  signified  his  willingness  to  accom 
pany  him. 

We  took  the  first  morning  train,  so  that  father  could  re 
turn  before  evening,  and  ran  through  in  the  course  of  an 
hour  the  wooden  suburbs  of  Belem,  bordered  by  an  ancient 
marsh,  from  which  the  sea  had  long  retired.  Taking  a 
cab,  we  turned  into  Norfolk  Street,  at  the  head  of  which, 
Ben  said,  a  mile  distant,  was  his  father's  house.  It  was  not 


1 72  THE  MORGESONS. 

a  cheerful  street,  and  when  we  stopped  before  an  immense, 
square,  three-storied  house,  it  looked  still  more  gloomy. 
There  was  a  gate  on  one  side,  with  white  wooden  urns  on 
the  posts,  that  shut  off  a  paved  courtway,  On  each  side  of 
the  street  were  houses  of  the  same  pattern,  with  the  same 
gates.  Down  the  paved  court  of  the  opposite  house  a  coach 
pulled  by  two  fat  horses  clattered,  and  as  the  coach  turned 
we  saw  two  old  ladies  inside,  highly  dressed,  bowing  and 
smiling  at  Ben. 

u  The  Miss  Hiticutts — hundred  thousand  apiece." 

"  Hundred  thousand  apiece,"  I  echoed  in  an  anguish  of 
admiration,  which  made  my  father  laugh  and  Ben  scowl. 
A  servant  in  a  linen  jacket  opened  the  door.  "  Is  it  your 
self,  Mr.  Ben  ? " 

"  Open  the  parlor  door,  Murph.  Where's  my  mother  and 
my  sister  ? " 

"  Miss  Somers  is  taking  her  exercise,  sir,  and  Mrs.  Somers 
is  with  the  owld  gentleman  ";  opening  the  door,  with  the 
performance  of  taking  father's  hat. 

"  Sit  down,  Cassandra.     I'll  look  up  somebody." 

It  was  a  bewildering  matter  where  to  go  ;  the  room,  vast 
and  dark,  was  a  complete  litter  of  tables  and  sofas.  The 
tables  were  loaded  with  lamps,  books,  and  knick-knacks  of 
every  description  ;  the  sofas  were  strewn  with  English  and 
French  magazines,  novels,  and  papers.  I  went  to  the  win^ 
dow,  while  father  perched  on  the  music  stool. 

My  attention  was  diverted  to  a  large  dog  in  the  court, 
chained  to  a  post  near  a  pump,  where  a  man  was  giving 
water  to  a  handsome  bay  horse,  at  the  same  time  keeping 
his  eye  on  an  individual  who  stood  on  a  stone  block,  dressed 
in  a  loose  velvet  coat,  a  white  felt  hat,  and  slippers  down  at 
the  heel.  He  had  a  coach  whip  in  his  hand — the  hand 
somest  hand  I  ever  saw,  which  he  snapped  at  the  dog,  who 
growled  with  rage.  I  heard  Ben's  voice  in  remonstrance  ; 
then  a  lazy  laugh  from  velvet  coat,  who  gave  the  dog  a  cut 
which  made  him  bound.  Ben,  untying  him,  was  over 
whelmed  with  caresses.  "  Down,  you  fool  !  Off,  Rash  !  " 
he  said.  "  Look  there,"  pointing  to  the  window  where  I 
stood.  The  gentleman  with  the  coach  whip  looked  at  me 
also.  The  likeness  to  Ben  turned  my  suspicion  into  cer 
tainty  that  they  were  brothers.  His  disposition,  I  thought, 
mast  be  lovely,  judging  from  the  episode  with  "  Rash." 


THE  MORGESONS.  173 

I  turned  away,  almost  running  against  a  lady,  who  ex 
tended  her  fingers  toward  me  with  a  quick  little  laugh,  and 
said  : 

"  How  de  do  ?     Where's  Ben, to  introduce  us  properly?" 

"  Here,  mother,"  he  said  behind  her,  followed  by  the  dog. 
"You  were  expecting  Cassandra,  my  old  chum;  and  Mr. 
Morgeson  has  come  to  leave  her  with  us." 

"Certainly.  Rash,  go  out,  dear.  Mr.  Morgeson,  I  am 
sorry  to  say,"  she  spoke  with  more  politeness,  "  that  Mr. 
Somers  is  confined  to  his  room  with  gout.  May  I  take 
you  up  ? " 

"  I  have  a  short  time  to  stay,"  looking  at  his  watch  and 
rising.  "  Do  you  consider  the  old  school  friendship  be 
tween  your  son  and  Cassandra  a  sufficient  reason  for  leav 
ing  her  with  you  ?  To  say  nothing  of  the  faint  relationship 
which,  we  suppose,  exists." 

"  Of  course,  very  happy  ;  Adelaide  expects  her,"  she  said 
vaguely.  I  saw  at  once  that  she  had  never  heard  a  word  of 
our  being  relations.  Ben  had  managed  nicely  in  the  affair 
of  my  invitation  to  Belem.  But  I  desired  to  remain,  in 
spite  of  Mrs.  Somers's  reception. 

Mr.  Somers  was  bolstered  up  in  bed,  in  a  flowered  dress 
ing  gown,  with  a  bottle  of  colchicum  and  a  pile  of  Congres 
sional  reports  on  a  stand  beside  him.  His  urbanity  was  ex 
treme  ;  it  was  evident  that  the  gout  was  not  allowed  to 
interfere  with  his  deportment,  though  the  joints  of  his  hands 
were  twisted  and  knotty.  He  expatiated  upon  Ben's  long 
ungratified  wish  for  a  visit  from  me,  and  thanked  father 
for  complying  with  it.  He  mentioned  the  memento  of  the 
miniature,  and  gave  every  particular  of  Locke  Morgeson's 
early  marriage,  explaining  the  exact  shade  of  consanguin 
ity — a  faint  one.  I  glanced  at  Mrs.  Somers,  who  sat  re 
mote,  in  the  act  of  inspecting  me,  with  an  eye  askance, 
which  I  afterward  found  was  her  mode  of  looking  at  those 
whom  she  doubted  or  disliked  ;  it  changed  its  expression, 
as  it  met  mine,  into  one  of  haughty  wonder,  that  said  there 
could  be  no  tie  of  blood  between  us.  She  irritated  and 
embarrassed  me.  I  tried  to  think  of  something  to  say,  and 
uttered  a  few  words,  which  were  uncommonly  trivial  and 
awkward.  Mr.  Somers  touched  on  politics.  The  door 
opened,  and  Ben's  brother  entered,  with  downcast  eyes. 
Advancing  to  the  footboard  of  the  bed,  he  leaned  his  chin 


174  THE  MORGESONS. 

on  its  edge,  looked  at  his  father,  and  in  a  remarkably  clear, 
ringing  voice,  said  : 

"  The  check." 

Mr.  Somers  coughed  behind  his  hand.  "To-morrow will 
do,  Desmond." 

"  To-day  will  do." 

"  Desmond,"  said  Ben  in  a  low  voice,  "  you  do  not  see 
Mr.  Morgeson  and  Miss  Morgeson.  My  brother,  Cas 
sandra." 

"  Beg  pardon,  good-morning";  and  he  pulled  off  his  hat 
"with  an  air  of  grace  which  became  him,  though  it  was  very 
indifferent.  Mrs.  Somers  in  a  soft  voice  said  :  "  Ring,  Des, 
dear,  will  you  ?  "  He  warned  her  with  a  satirical  smile, 
and  gave  such  a  pull  at  the  bell-rope  that  it  came  down. 
Her  florid  face  flushed  a  deeper  red,  but  he  had  gone. 
Father  looked  at  his  watch,  and  got  up  with  alacrity. 

"  You  are  to  dine  with  us,  at  least,  Mr.  Morgeson." 

"  I  must  return  to  Boston  on  account  of  my  daughter, 
who  is  there  alone." 

"  Have  you  been  remiss,  Ben,"  said  his  father  affection 
ately,  "  in  not  bringing  her  also  ?  " 

"  She  would  not  come,  of  course,  father." 

A  tall,  black-haired  girl  of  twenty-five  rushed  in. 

"  Why,  Ben,"  she  said,  "  you  were  not  expected.  And 
this  is  Miss  Morgeson,"  shaking  hands  with  me.  "  You 
will  spend  a  month,  wont  you  ?  "  She  put  her  chin  in  her 
hand,  and  scanned  me  with  a  cool  deliberateness.  "  Pa, 
do  you  think  she  is  like  Caroline  Bingham  ?  " 

"  Yes,  so  she  is  ;  but  fairer.  She  is  a  great  belle,"  nod 
ding  to  me. 

"  Do  you  really  think  she  looks  like  her,  Somers  ?  "  said 
Mrs.  Somers,  in  a  tone  of  denial. 

"  Certainly,  but  handsomer,"  Adelaide  replied  for  him, 
without  looking  at  her  mother. 

"Would  you  like  to  go  to  your  room?"  she  asked. 
"  What  a  pretty  dress  this  is  !  "  taking  hold  of  the  sleeve, 
her  chin  in  her  hand  still.  "  We  will  have  some  walks  ; 
Belem  is  nice  for  walking.  Pa,  how  do  you  feel  now  ?  " 

She  allowed  me  to  go  downstairs  with  father,  without  fol 
lowing,  and  sent  Murphy  in  with  wine  and  biscuit.  I  put 
my  arms  round  his  neck  and  kissed  him,  for  I  had  a  lone 
some  feeling,  which  I  could  not  define  at  the  last  moment. 


THE  MORGESONS.  175 

"You  will  not  stay  long,"  he  said  ;  "there  is  something 
oppressive  in  this  atmosphere." 

"  Something  artificial,  is  it  ?  It  must  be  the  blood  of  the 
Bellevue  Pickersgills  that  thickens  the  air." 

"  Now,"  said  Ben,  with  father's  hat  in  his  hand,  "  the 
time  is  up." 

Adelaide  was  at  the  door  to  take  courteous  leave  of  him, 
and  Mrs.  Somers  bowed  from  the  top  of  the  stairs,  reveal 
ing  a  pair  of  large  ankles,  whose  base  rested  in  a  pair  of 
shabby,  pudgy  slippers.  Adelaide  then  took  me  to  my 
room,  telling  me  not  to  change  my  dress,  but  to  come  down 
soon,  for  dinner  was  ready.  Hearing  a  bell,  I  hurried  down 
to  the  parlor  which  we  were  in  before,  and  waited  for  direc 
tions  respecting  the  dinner.  Adelaide  came  presently. 
"We  are  dining  ;  come  and  sit  next  me,"  offering  her  arm. 
Mrs.  Somers,  Desmond,  and  a  girl  of  fifteen  were  at  the 
table.  The  latter  had  just  come  from  school,  I  concluded, 
as  a  satchel  of  books  hung  at  her  chair.  Murphy  was  re 
moving  the  soup,  and  I  derived  the  impression  that  I  had 
been  forgotten.  While  taking  mine,  they  vaguely  stared 
about  till  Murphy  brought  in  the  roast  mutton,  except  Ade 
laide,  who  rubbed  her  teeth  with  a  dry  crust,  making  a 
feint  of  eating  it.  Desmond  kept  the  decanter,  occasion 
ally  swallowing  a  glassful. 

"  What  wine  is  that,  Murphy  ? "  Mrs.  Somers  asked.  He 
hesitatingly  answered,  "  I  think  it  is  the  Juno,  mum." 

"  You  stole  the  key  from  pa's  room,  Des,"  said  the  girl. 
He  shook  the  carving-knife  at  her,  at  which  gesture  she 
said  "  Pooh  !  "  and  applied  herself  to  the  roast  mutton 
with  avidity.  They  all  ate  largely,  especially  the  girl, 
whose  wide  mouth  was  filled  with  splendid  teeth.  Mrs. 
Somers  made  a  motion  with  her  glass  for  Murphy  to 
bring  her  the  wine,  and  pouring  a  teaspoonful,  held  it  to 
her  mouth,  as  if  she  were  practicing  drinking  healths.  Her 
hands  were  beautiful,  too  ;  they  all  had  handsome  hands, 
whose  movements  were  graceful  and  expressive.  When 
Ben  arrived,  Murphy  set  the  dishes  before  him,  and  Ade 
laide  began  to  talk  in  a  lively,  brilliant  way.  He  did  not 
ask  for  wine,  but  I  saw  him  look  toward  it  and  Desmond. 
The  decanter  was  empty.  After  the  dessert,  Mrs.  Somers 
arose  and  we  followed  ;  but  she  soon  left  us,  and  we  went  to 
the  parlor.  The  girl,  taking  a  seat  beside  me,  said  :  "  My 


I7&  THE  MORGESONS. 

name  is  Ann  Somers.  I  am  never  introduced  ;  Adder,  my 
sister,  is  in  the  way,  you  know.  I  dare  say  Ben  never 
spoke  of  me  to  you.  I  am  never  spoken  of,  am  never 
noticed.  I  have  never  had  new  dresses  ;  yet  pa  is  my 
friend,  the  dear  soul." 

Adelaide  looked  upon  her  with  the  same  superb  indiffer 
ence  with  which  she  regarded  her  mother  and  Desmond. 
"Would  you  like  to  go  to  your  room  ?"  she  asked  again. 
"  You  are  too  tired  to  take  a  walk,  perhaps  ?  " 

"  Lord  !  "  said  Ann,  "do  let  her  do  as  she  likes.  Adder, 
don't  be  too  disagreeable." 

I  picked  up  my  bonnet,  which  she  took  from  me,  and  put 
on  the  top  of  her  head  as  we  went  upstairs. 

"  Murph  must  bring  up  your  trunk,"  said  Ann,  opening 
the  closet.  "  But  there  is  no  space  to  hang  anything  ;  the 
great  Mogul's  wardrobe  stops  the  way." 

My  chamber  was  stately  in  size  and  appointments.  The 
afternoon  sun  shone  in,  where  a  shutter  was  open,  behind 
the  dull  red  curtains,  and  illuminated  the  portrait  of  a  nim 
ble  old  lady  in  a  scarlet  cloak,  which  hung  near  the  gigantic 
curtained  bed,  over  a  vast  chair,  covered  with  faded  green 
damask. 

"Grandmother  Pickersgill,"  said  Ann,  who  saw  me  ob 
serving  the  picture.  Adelaide  contemplated  it  also.  "  It 
was  painted  by  Copley,"  she  said,  "  Lord  Lyndhurst  after 
wards.  Grandfather  entertained  him,  and  he  went  to  one 
of  grandmother's  parties  ;  he  complimented  her  on  her 
beauty.  But  you  see  that  she  has  not  a  handsome  hand. 
Ours  is  the  Pickersgill  hand,"  and  she  spread  her  fingers 
like  a  fan.  "  She  was  a  regular  old  screw,"  continued 
Ann,  "  and  used  to  have  mother's  underclothes  tucked  to 
last  for  ever  ;  she  was  a  beast  to  servants,  too." 

My  trunk  was  brought  in,  which  I  unlocked  and  un 
packed,  while  Adelaide  opened  a  drawer  in  a  great  bureau. 

"Oh,  you  know  it  is  full  of  Marm's  fineries,"  said  Ann, 
in  a  confidential  tone  ;  "  I'll  ring  for  Hannah."  Adelaide 
busied  herself  in  throwing  the  contents  of  the  drawers  on 
the  floor.  "  There's  her  ball  dresses,"  commented  Ann,  as 
a  pink  satin,  trimmed  with  magnificent  lace,  tumbled  out. 
"  Old  Carew  brought  the  lace  over  for  her." 

"  Bring  a  basket,  Hannah,  and  take  these  away  some 
where,  to  some  other  closet  of  Mrs.  Somers's." 


THE  MORGESONS.  1 77 

"That  gold  fringe,  do  you  remember,  Adder?  She 
looked  like  an  elephant  with  his  howdah  on  when  she 
wore  it." 

Her  impertinence  inspired  Adelaide,  who  joined  her  in  a 
flow  of  vituperative  wit  at  the  expense  of  their  mother  and 
other  relatives,  incidentally  brought  in.  Instead  of  being 
aghast,  I  enjoyed  it,  and  was  feverish  with  a  desire  to  be  as 
brilliant,  for  my  vocabulary  was  deficient  and  my  sense  of 
inferiority  was  active  during  the  whole  of  my  visit  in  Belem. 
I  blushed  often,  smiled  foolishly,  and  was  afflicted  with  a 
general  apprehension  in  regard  to  gaucherie. 

I  changed  my  traveling  dress,  as  they  were  not  inclined 
to  leave  me,  with  anxiety,  for  I  was  weak  enough  to  wish  to 
make  an  impression  with  my  elegant  bearing  and  appoint 
ments.  Being  so  anatomized,  I  was  oppressed  with  an  in 
definite  discouragement.  Their  stealthy,  sharp,  selfish 
scrutiny  brought  out  my  failures.  My  dress  seemed  ill- 
made  ;  my  hair  unbecomingly  dressed  ;  my  best  collar  and 
ribbon,  which  I  put  on,  were  nothing  to  the  lace  I  had 
just  seen  falling  on  the  floor.  When  we  descended  it  was 
twilight.  Ann  said  she  must  study,  and  left  us  by  the  par 
lor  fire.  Adelaide  lighted  a  candle,  and  took  a  novel,  which 
she  read  reclining  on  a  sofa.  Reclining  on  sofas,  I  dis 
covered,  was  a  family  trait,  though  they  were  all  in  a  state 
of  the  most  robust  health,  with  the  exception  of  Mr.  Somers. 
I  walked  up  and  down  the  rooms.  "  They  were  fine  once," 
said  Ben,  who  appeared  from  a  dark  corner,  "  but  faded 
now.  Mother  never  changes  anything  if  she  can  help  it. 
She  is  a  terrible  aristocrat,"  he  continued,  in  a  low  voice, 
"  fixed  in  the  ideas  imbedded  in  the  Belem  institutions, 
which  only  move  backward.  We  laugh,  though,  at  every 
body's  claims  but  our  own.  You  despised  me  for  mention 
ing  the  Hiticutts'  income  ;  it  was  the  atmosphere." 

"  It  amuses  me  to  be  here." 

"  Of  course  ;  but  stir  up  Adelaide,  she  is  genuine  ;  has 
fine  sense,  and  half  despises  her  life  ;  but  she  knows  no 
other,  and  is  proud." 

"  Let's  go  and  find  tea,"  she  said,  yawning,  dropping  her 
book.  "  Why  don't  that  lazy  Murph  light  the  lamp  ?  I 
wish  pa  was  down  to  regulate  affairs."  No  one  was  at  the 
tea-table  but  Mrs.  Somers. 

"  Ben  is  very  polite,  don't  you  think  so  ? "  she  said  with 


I?8  THE  MORGESQNS. 

her  peculiar  laugh,  which  made  my  flesh  creep,  as  he  pulled 
up  a  chair  for  me.  Her  voice  made  me  dizzy,  but  I  smiled. 
Ben  was  not  the  same  in  Belem,  I  saw  at  once,  and  no  longer 
wondered  at  its  influence,  or  at  the  vacillating  nature  of  his 
plans  and  pursuits.  Mrs.  Somers  gave  me  some  tea  from  a 
spider-shaped  silver  tea-pot,  which  was  related  to  a  spider- 
shaped  cream-jug  and  a  spider-shaped  sugar-dish.  The 
polished  surface  of  the  mahogany  table  reflected  a  pair  of 
tall  silver  candlesticks,  and  the  plates,  being  of  warped 
blue  and  white  Chinese  ware,  joggled  and  clattered  when  we 
touched  them.  The  tea  was  delicious  ;  I  said  so,  but  Mrs. 
Somers  deigned  no  answer.  We  were  regaled  with  spread 
bread  and  butter  and  baked  apples.  Adelaide  ate  six. 

"  We  do  not  have  your  Surrey  suppers,"  Ben  remarked. 

"How  should  you  know?"  his  mother  asked.  Ben's 
eyes  looked  violent  and  he  bit  his  lips.  Adelaide  com 
menced  speaking  before  her  mother  had  finished  her  ques 
tion,  as  if  she  only  needed  the  spur  of  her  voice  to  be  lively 
and  agreeable,  per  contra. 

"  Hepburn  must  ask  us  to  tea.  Her  jam  and  her  gossip 
are  wonderful.  Aunt  Tucker  might  ask  us  too,  with  house 
keeper  Beck's  permission.  I  like  tea  fights  with  the  old 
Hindoos.  They  like  us  too,  Ben  ;  we  are  the  children  of 
Hindoos  also — superior  to  the  rest  of  the  world.  There 
will  be  a  party  or  two  for  this  young  person." 

"  Parties  be  hanged  !  "  he  said.  "  Then  we  must  have  a 
rout  here,  and  I  hate  "em." 

"  But  we  owe  an  entertainment,"  said  Mrs.  Somers.  "  I 
have  been  thinking  of  giving  one  as  soon  as  Mr.  Somers 
gets  out." 

"  I  have  no  such  idea,"  said  Adelaide,  with  her  back 
toward  her  mother.  "  We  shall  have  no  party  until  some 
one  has  been  given  to  our  young  friend,  Ben." 

Ben  and  I  visited  his  father,  who  asked  questions  relative 
to  the  temperature,  the  water,  and  the  dietetic  qualities  of 
Surrey.  He  was  affable,  but  there  was  no  nearness  in  his 
affability.  He  skated  on  the  ice  of  appearances,  and  that 
was  his  vocation  in  his  family.  He  fulfilled  it  well,  but  it 
was  a  strain  sometimes.  His  family  broke  the  ice  now  and 
then,  which  must  have  made  him  plunge  into  the  depths  of 
reality.  I  learned  to  respect  his  courage,  bad  as  his  cause 
was.  Marrying  Bellevue  Pickersgill  for  her  money,  he 


THE  MORGESONS.  179 

married  his  master,  and  was  endowed  only  with  the  privi 
lege  of  settling  her  taxes.  Simon  Pickersgill,  her  father, 
tied  up  the  main  part  of  his  money  for  his  grandchildren. 
It  was  to  be  divided  among  them  when  the  youngest  son 
should  arrive  at  the  age  of  twenty-one — an  event  which  took 
place,  I  supposed,  while  Ben  was  on  his  way  to  India.  Des 
mond  and  an  older  son,  who  resided  anywhere  except  at 
home,  made  havoc  with  the  income.  As  the  principal  pros- 
pectively  was  theirs,  or  nearly  the  whole  of  it,  why  should 
they  not  dispose  of  that  ? 

At  last  Mr.  Somers  looked  at  his  watch,  a  gentle  reminder 
that  it  was  time  for  us  to  withdraw.  Adelaide  was  still  in 
the  parlor,  lying  on  her  favorite  sofa  contemplating  the  ceil 
ing.  I  asked  permission  to  retire,  which  she  granted  with 
out  removing  her  regards.  In  spite  of  my  sound  sleep  that 
night,  I  was  started  from  it  by  the  wail  of  a  young  child. 
The  strangeness  of  the  chamber,  and  the  continued  crying, 
which  I  could  not  locate,  kept  me  awake  at  intervals  till 
dawn  peeped  through  the  curtains. 


CHAPTER   XXVIII. 

A  FEW  days  after  my  arrival,  some  friends  dined  with 
Mrs.  Somers.     The  daughters  of  a  senator,  as  Ann 
informed  me,  and  an  ex-governor,  or  I  should  not 
have  known  this  fact,  for  I  was  not  introduced.     The  din 
ner  was  elaborate,  and  Desmond  did  the  honors.     With  the 
walnuts  one  of  the  ladies  asked  for  the  baby. 

Mrs.  Somers  made  a  sign  to  Desmond,  who  pulled  the 
bell-rope — mildly  this  time.  An  elderly  woman  instantly 
appeared  with  a  child  a  few  months  old,  puny  and  anxious- 
looking.  Mrs.  Somers  took  it  from  her,  and  placed  it  on 
the  table  ;  it  tottered  and  nodded  to  the  chirrups  of  the 
guests.  Ben,  from  the  opposite  side  of  the  table,  addressed 
me  by  a  look,  which  enlightened  me.  His  voyage  to  India 
was  useless,  as  the  property  would  stand  for  twenty-one 
years  more,  lacking  some  months,  unless  Providence  inter 
posed.  Adelaide  was  oblivious  of  the  child,  but  Desmond 
thumped  his  glass  on  the  mahogany  to  attract  it,  for  its 


180  THE  MORGESONS. 

energies  were  absorbed  in  swallowing  its  fists  and  fretfully 
crying.  When  Murphy  announced  coffee  in  the  parlor,  the 
nurse  took  it  away  ;  and  after  coffee  and  sponge  cake  were 
served  the  visitors  drove  off.  That  afternoon  some  friends 
of  Adelaide  called,  to  whom  she  introduced  me  as  "  cousin." 
She  gave  graphic  descriptions  of  them,  after  their  depart 
ure.  One  had  achieved  greatness  by  spending  her  winters 
in  Washington,  and  contracting  a  friendship  with  John  C. 
Calhoun.  Another  was  an  artist  who  had  painted  an  ideal 
head  of  her  ancestor,  Sir  Roger  de  Roger,  not  he  who  had 
arrived  some  years  ago  as  a  weaver  from  Glasgow,  but  the 
one  who  had  remained  on  the  family  estate.  A  third  re 
viewed  books  and  collected  autographs. 

The  next  afternoon  one  of  the  Miss  Hiticutts  from  across 
the  way  came,  in  a  splendid  camel's-hair  shawl  and  a 
shabby  dress.  "  How  is  Mr.  Somers  ?  "  she  asked.  "  He 
is  such  a  martyr." 

Here  Mrs.  Somers  entered.  "  My  dear  Bellevue,  you  are 
worn  out  with  your  devotion  to  him  ;  when  have  you  taken 
the  air?"  She  did  not  wait  for  a  reply,  but  addressed 
Adelaide  with,  "  This  is  your  young  friend,  and  where  is 
my  favorite,  Mr.  Ben,  and  little  Miss  Ann  ?  Have  you  any 
thing  new  ?  I  went  down  to  Harris  yesterday  to  tell  her 
she  must  sweep  away  her  old  trash  of  a  circulating  library, 
and  begin  with  the  New  Regime  of  Novels,  which  threatens 
to  overwhelm  us." 

Adelaide  talked  slowly  at  first,  and  then  soared  into  a 
region  where  I  had  never  seen  a  woman — an  intellectual 
one.  Miss  Hiticutt  followed  her,  and  I  experienced  a 
new  pleasure.  Mrs.  Somers  was  silent,  but  listened  with 
respect  to  Miss  Hiticutt,  for  she  was  of  the  real  Belem 
azure  in  blood  as  well  as  in  brain  ;  besides,  she  was  rich, 
and  would  never  marry.  It  was  a  Pickersgill  hallucination 
to  be  attentive  to  people  who  had  legacies  in  their  power. 
Mrs.  Somers  had  a  bequested  fortune  already  in  hair  rings 
and  silver  ware.  While  appearing  to  listen  to  Adelaide, 
her  eyes  wandered  over  me  with  speculation  askant  in  them. 
Adelaide  was  so  full  of  esprit  that  I  was  again  smitten 
with  my  inferiority,  and  from  this  time  I  felt  a  respect 
for  her,  which  never  declined,  although  she  married  an 
Englishman,  who,  too  choleric  to  live  in  America,  took  her 
to  Florence,  where  they  settled  with  their  own  towels  and 


THE  MORGESONS.  181 

silver,  and  are  likely  to  remain,  for  her  heart  is  too  narrow 
to  comprise  any  further  interest  in  Belem. 

Miss  Hiticutt  chatted  herself  out,  giving  us  an  invitation 
to  tea,  for  any  day,  including  Ben  and  Miss  Ann,  who  had 
not  been  visible  since  breakfast. 

April  rains  kept  us  indoors  for  several  days.  Ann 
refused  to  go  to  school.  She  must  have  a  holiday  ;  besides, 
pa  needed  her ;  she  alone  could  take  care  of  him,  after  all. 
Her  mother  said  that  she  must  go. 

"  Who  can  make  me,  mum  ?  " 

Desmond  ordered  the  coach  for  her.  When  it  was  ready 
he  put  her  in  it,  seated  himself  beside  her,  with  provoking 
nonchalance,  and  carried  her  to  school.  Murphy,  with 
his  velvet-banded  hat,  left  her  satchel  at  the  door,  with  a 
ceremonious  air,  which  made  Ann  slap  his  cheek  and  call 
him  an  old  grimalkin.  But  she  was  obliged  to  walk  home 
in  the  rain,  after  waiting  an  hour  for  him  to  come  back. 

Mr.  Somers  hobbled  about  his  room,  with  the  help  of  his 
cane,  and  said  that  he  should  be  out  soon,  and  requested 
Adelaide  to  put  in  order  some  book-shelves  that  were  in 
the  third  story,  for  he  wanted  to  read  without  confusion. 
We  went  there  together,  and  sorted  some  odd  volumes ; 
piles  of  Unitarian  sermons,  bound  magazines,  political 
works,  and  a  heap  of  histories.  Ben  found  a  seat  on  a 
bunch  of  books,  pleased  to  see  us  together. 

"  This  is  a  horrid  hole,"  he  said.  "  I  have  not  been  up 
in  this  floor  for  ages.  How  do  the  shelves  look  ? " 

A  hiccough  near  us  caused  us  to  look  toward  the  door. 

"  It  is  only  Des,  in  his  usual  afternoon  trim,"  said 
Ben. 

She  nodded,  as  he  pushed  open  the  door,  thrusting  in  his 
head.  "  What  the  hell  are  you  doing  here  ?  This  region 
is  sacred  to  Chaos  and  old  Night,"  striking  the  panels,  first 
one  and  then  the  other,  with  the  tassels  of  his  dressing- 
gown.  No  one  answered  him.  Adelaide  counted  a  row  of 
books,  and  Ben  whistled. 

"  Damn  you,  Ben,"  he  said,  in  a  languid  voice  :  "  you 
never  seem  bored.  Curse  you  all.  I  hate  ye,  especially 
that  she-Calmuck  yonder — that  Siberian-steppe-natured, 
malachite-hearted  girl,  our  sister." 

"  Oh  come  away,  Mr.  Desmond.  What  are  the  poor 
things  doing  that  you  should  harry  them?"  and  the 


1 82  THE  MORGESONS. 

woman  who  had  brought  in  the  baby  the  day  of  the  dinner 
laid  her  hands  on  him  and  pulled  him  away. 

"  Sarah  will  never  give  him  up,"  said  Ben. 

"  She  swears  there  is  good  in  him.  I  think  he  is  a 
wretch,"  turning  over  the  leaves  of  a  book  with  her  beauti 
ful  hand,  such  a  hand  as  I  had  just  seen  beating  the 
door — such  a  hand  as  clasped  its  fellow  in  Ben's  hair. 
Adelaide  was  not  embarrassed  at  my  presence.  She  neither 
sought  nor  avoided  my  look.  But  Ben  said,  "  You  are 
thinking." 

"  Is  she  ?"     And  Adelaide  raised  her  eyes. 

"  You  are  all  so  much  alike,"  I  said. 

"  You  are  right,"  she  answered  seriously.  "  Our  grand 
father — " 

"  Confound  him  !  "  broke  in  Ben.  "  I  wish  he  had  never 
been  born.  Are  you  proud,  Addie,  of  being  like  the  Pickers- 
gills  ?  But  I  know  you  are.  Remember  that  the  part  of 
us  which  is  Pickersgill  hates  its  like.  I  am  off  ;  I  am  going 
to  walk." 

Adelaide  coolly  said,  after  he  had  gone,  that  he  was  very 
visionary,  predicting  changes  that  could  not  be,  and 
determined  to  bring  them  about. 

"  Why  did  he  bring  me  here  ? "  I  asked,  as  if  I  were 
asking  in  a  dream. 

"  Ben's  hospitality  is  genuine.  He  is  like  pa.  Besides, 
you  are  related  to  us — on  the  Somers  side,  and  are  the  first 
visitor  we  ever  saw,  outside  of  mother's  connection.  Do 
you  not  know,  too,  that  Ben's  friendship  is  very  sincere — 
very  strong  ?  " 

"  I  begin  to  comprehend  the  Pickersgills,"  I  remarked  as 
if  in  a.dream.  "  How  words  with  any  meaning  glance  off, 
when  addressed  to  them..  How  impossible  it  is  to  return 
the  impression  they  give.  How  incapable  they  are  of 
appreciating  what  they  cannot  appropriate  to  the  use  of 
their  idiosyncrasies." 

She  gazed  at  me,  as  if  she  heard  an  abstract  subject  dis 
cussed,  with  a  slight  interest  in  her  black  eyes. 

"Are  they  vicious  to  the  death?"  I  went  on  with  this 
dream.  "  It  is  not  fair — their  overpowering  personality — 
it  is  not  fair  to  others.  It  overpowers  me,  though  I  know 
it  is  all  fallacious." 

"  I  am  ignorant  of  Ethical  Philosophy." 


THE  MORGESONS,  183 

"  Miss  Somers,"  said  Murphy,  knocking,  "  if  Major 
Millard  is  below  ?" 

"  I  am  coming." 

She  smiled  when  she  looked  at  me  again.  I  stared  at  her 
with  a  singular  feeling.  Had  I  touched  her,  or  had  I  made 
a  fool  of  myself  ? 

"  There  is  some  nice  gingerbread  in  the  closet.  Sha'n't 
I  get  you  a  piece  ? " 

I  fell  out  of  my  dream. 

"  Major  Millard  is  an  old  beau.  Come  down  and  capti 
vate  him.  He  likes  fair  women." 

Declining  the  gingerbread,  I  accepted  the  Major.  He 
was  an  old  gentleman,  in  a  good  deal  of  highly  starched 
linen,  amusing  himselif  by  teazing  Ann,  who  liked  it,  and 
paid  him  in  impertinence.  Adelaide  played  chess  with  him. 
Desmond  sauntered  in  about  nine,  threw  himself  into  a 
chair  behind  the  sofa  where  I  sat,  and  swung  his  arm  over 
the  back.  The  chessboard  was  put  aside,  and  a  gossipy 
conversation  was  started,  which  included  Mrs.  Somers,  who 
was  on  a  sofa  across  the  room,  but  he  did  not  join  in  it.  I 
watched  Mrs.  Somers,  as  her  fingers  moved  with  her  Berlin 
knitting,  feeling  more  composed  and  settled  as  to  my 
identity,  in  spite  of  my  late  outburst,  than  I  had  felt  at  any 
moment  since  my  arrival  in  Belem.  They  were  laughing 
at  a  funny  description,  which  Ann  was  giving  of  a  meeting 
she  had  witnessed  between  Miss  Hiticutt  and  Mr.  Pearsall, 
a  gentleman  lately  arrived  from  China,  after  a  twenty  years' 
residence,  with  several  lacs  of  rupees.  Her  delineation  of 
Miss  Hiticutt,  who  attempted  to  appear  as  she  had  twenty 
years  before,  was  excellent.  Ben,  who  was  rolling  and 
unrolling  his  mother's  yarn,  laughed  till  the  tears  ran,  but 
Major  Millard  looked  uneasy,  as  if  he  expected  to  be  served 
^-/a-Hiticutt  by  the  satirical  Ann  after  his  departure. 
Before  the  laughter  subsided,  I  heard  a  low  voice  at  my 
ear,  and  felt  a  slight  touch  from  the  tip  of  a  finger  on  my 
cheek. 

"  How  came  those  scars  ? " 

I  brushed  my  cheek  with  my  handkerchief,  and  answered, 
"  I  got  them  in  battle." 

He  left  his  chair,  and  walked  slowly  through  the  room 
into  the  dark  front  parlor.  Major  Millard  took  leave,  and 
was  followed  by  Mrs.  Somers  and  Ann,  neither  of  whom 


1 84  THE  MORGESONS. 

returned.  As  Ben  stretched  himself  on  his  sofa  with  an 
air  of  relief,  Desmond  emerged  from  the  dark  and  stood 
behind  him.  leaning  against  a  column,  with  his  hands  in  his 
coat  pockets  and  his  eyes  searchingly  fixed  upon  me.  Ben, 
turning  his  head  in  my  direction,  sprang  up  so  suddenly 
that  I  started  ;  but  Desmond's  eyes  did  not  move  till  Ben 
confronted  him  ;  then  he  gave  him  a  haughty  smile,  and 
begged  him  to  take  his  repose  again. 

I  went  to  the  piano  and  ran  my  fingers  over  the  keys. 

"  Do  you  play  ?  Can  you  sing  ? "  asked  Adelaide,  rous 
ing  herself. 

"  Yes." 

"  Do  sing.     I  never  talk  music  ;  but  I  like  it." 

"  Some  old  song,"  said  Ben. 

Singing 

"  Drink  to  me  only  with  thine  eyes, 
And  I  will  pledge  with  mine," 

I  became  conscious  that  Desmond  was  near  me.  With  a 
perfectly  pure  voice  he  joined  in  the  song  : 

"  The  thirst  that  from  the  soul  doth  rise, 
Doth  ask  a  drink  divine." 

As  the  tones  of  his  voice  floated  through  the  room,  I  was 
where  I  saw  the  white  sea-birds  flashing  between  the  blue 
deeps  of  our  summer  sea  and  sky,  and  the  dark  rocks  that 
rose  and  dipped  in  the  murmuring  waves. 


CHAPTER   XXIX. 

ONE  pleasant  afternoon  Adelaide  and  I  started  on  a  walk. 
We  must  go  through  the  crooked  length  of  Norfolk 
Street,  till  we  reached  the  outskirts  of  Belem,  and  its 
lew  fields  not  yet  green  ;  that  was  the  fashionable  prome 
nade,  she  said.    After  the  two  o'clock  dinner,  Belem  walked. 
All  her  acquaintances  seemed  to  be  in  the  street,  so  many 
bows  were  given  and   returned  with  ceremony.     Nothing 
familiar  was  attempted,  nothing  beyond  the  courtliness  of 
an  artificial  smile. 

Returning,  we  met  Desmond  with  a  lady,  and  a  series  of 


THE  MORGESONS.  185 

bows  took  place.  Desmond  held  his  hat  in  his  hand  till  we 
had  passed  ;  his  expression  varied  so  much  from  what  it 
was  when  I  saw  him  last,  at  the  breakfast  table,  he  being  in 
a  desperate  humor  then,  that  it  served  me  for  mental  com 
ment  for  some  minutes. 

"  That  is  Miss  Brewster,"  said  Adelaide.  "  She  is  an 
heiress,  and  fancies  Desmond's  attentions  :  she  will  not 
marry  him,  though." 

"  Is  every  woman  in  Belem  an  heiress  ? " 

"  Those  we  talk  about  are,  and  every  man  is  a  fortune- 
hunter.  Money  marries  money  ;  those  who  have  none  do 
not  marry.  Those  who  wait  hope.  But  the  great  fortunes 
of  Belem  are  divided  ;  the  race  of  millionaires  is  decaying." 

"Is  that  Ann  yonder?" 

"  I  think  so,  from  that  bent  bonnet." 

It  proved  to  be  Ann,  who  went  by  us  with  the  universal 
bow  and  grimace,  sacrificing  to  the  public  spirit  with  her 
fine  manners.  She  turned  soon,  however,  and  overtook 
us,  proposing  to  make  a  detour  to  Drummond  Street,  where 
an  intimate  family  friend, "  Old  Hepburn,"  lived,  so  that  the 
prospect  of  our  going  to  tea  with  her  might  be  made  prob 
able  by  her  catching  a  passing  glimpse  of  us  ;  at  this  time 
she  must  be  at  the  window  with  her  Voltaire,  or  her  Rous 
seau.  The  proposition  was  accepted,  and  we  soon  came 
near  the  house,  which  stood  behind  a  row  of  large  trees, 
and  looked  very  dismal,  with  three-fourths  of  its  windows 
barred  with  board  shutters. 

"Walk  slow,"  Ann  entreated.  "  I  see  her  blinking  at  us. 
She  has  not  shed  her  satin  pelisse  yet." 

Before  we  got  beyond  it  a  dirty  little  girl  came  out  of  the 
gate,  in  a  pair  of  huge  shoes  and  a  canvas  apron,  which 
covered  her,  to  call  us  back.  Mrs.  Hepburn  had  seen  us, 
and  wished  us  to  come  in,  wanting  to  know  who  Miss  Ade 
laide  had  with  her,  and  to  talk  with  her.  She  ran  back, 
reappearing  again  at  the  door,  out  of  breath,  and  minus  a 
shoe.  As  we  entered  a  small  parlor,  an  old  lady  in  a  black 
dress,  with  a  deep  cape,  held  out  her  withered  hand,  with 
out  rising  from  her  straight-backed  arm-chair,  smiling  at 
us,  but  shaking  her  head  furiously  at  the  small  girl,  who 
lingered  in  the  door. 

"  Mari,  Mari,"  she  called,  but  no  Mari  came,  and  the 
small  girl  took  our  shawls,  for  Mrs.  Hepburn  said  we  must 


1 86  THE  MORGESONS. 

stay,  now  that  she  had  inveigled  us  inside  her  doors.  Ann 
mimicked  her  at  her  back,  but  to  her  face  behaved  servilely. 
The  name  of  Morgeson  belonged  to  the  early  historical 
time  of  New  England,  Mrs.  Hepburn  informed  me.  I 
never  knew  it  ;  but  bowed,  as  if  not  ignorant.  Old  Mari 
must  be  consulted  respecting  the  sweetmeats,  and  she  went 
after  her. 

"  What  an  old  mouser  it  is  !  "  said  Ann.  "  What  unex 
pected  ways  she  has  !  She  scours  Belem  in  her  velvet 
shoes,  to  find  out  everybody's  history.  Don't  you  smell 
buttered  toast  ? " 

"Your  father  is  getting  the  best  of  the  gout,"  said  Mrs. 
Hepburn,  returning.  "  How  is  Desmond  ?  He  may  be 
the  wickedest  of  you  all,  but  I  like  him  the  best.  I  shall 
not  throw  away  praise  of  him  on  you,  Adelaide."  And  she 
looked  at  me. 

"  He  bows  well,"  I  said. 

"  He  resembles  his  mother,  who  was  a  great  beauty. 
Mr.  Somers  was  handsome,  too.  I  was  at  a  ball  at  Gover 
nor  Flam's  thirty  years  ago.  Your  mother  was  barely  fif 
teen,  then,  Adelaide  ;  she  was  just  married,  and  opened  the 
ball." 

She  examined  me  all  the  while,  with  a  pair  of  small, 
round  eyes,  from  which  the  color  had  faded,  but  which  were 
capable  of  reading  me. 

Tea  was  served  by  candlelight,  on  a  small  table.  Mrs. 
Hepburn  kept  her  eyes  on  everything,  talking  volubly,  and 
pulled  the  small  girl's  ears,  or  pushed  her  by  the  shoulder, 
with  faith  that  we  were  not  observing  her.  The  toast  was 
well  buttered,  the  sweetmeats  were  delicious,  and  the  cake 
was  heavenly,  as  Ann  said.  Mrs.  Hepburn  ate  little,  but 
told  us  a  great  deal  about  marriages  in  prospect  and  in 
comes  which  waxed  or  waned  in  consequence.  When  tea 
was  over,  she  said  to  the  small  girl  who  removed  the  tea 
things,  "  On  your  life  taste  not  of  the  cake  or  the  sweet 
meats  ;  and  bring  me  two  sticks  of  wood,  you  huzzy."  She 
arranged  the  sticks  on  a  decaying  fire,  inside  a  high  brass 
fender,  pulled  up  a  stand  near  the  hearth,  lighted  two  can 
dles,  and  placed  on  it  a  pack  of  cards. 

"  Some  one  may  come,  so  that  we  can  play." 

Meantime  she  dozed  upright,  walking,  talking,  and  doz 
ing  again,  like  a  crafty  old  parrot. 


THE  MORGESONS.  187 

"  She  has  a  great  deal  of  money  saved,"  Ann  whispered 
behind  a  book.  "  She  is  over  seventy.  Oh,  she  is  opening 
her  puss  eyes  !  " 

Adelaide  mused,  after  her  fashion,  on  the  slippery  hair 
cloth  sofa,  looking  at  the  dim  fire,  and  I  surveyed  the  room. 
Its  aspect  attracted  me,  though  it  was  precise  and  stiff. 
An  ugly  Turkey  carpet  covered  the  floor  ;  a  sideboard  was 
against  the  wall,  with  a  pair  of  silver  pitchers  on  it,  and 
two  tall  vases,  filled  with  artificial  flowers,  under  glass 
shades.  Old  portraits  hung  over  it.  Upon  one  I  fixed  my 
attention. 

'  That  is  the  portrait  of  Count  Rumford,"  Mrs.  Hepburn 
said. 

"  Can't  we  see  the  letters?  "  begged  Ann.  "  And  wont 
you  show  us  your  trinkets  ?  It  is  three  or  four  years  since 
we  looked  them  over." 

"  Yes,"  she  answered,  good-humoredly  ;  "  ring  the  bell." 

An  old  woman  answered  it,  to  whom  Mrs.  Hepburn  said, 
in  a  friendly  voice,  "  The  box  in  my  desk."  Adelaide  and 
Ann  said,  "  How  do  you  do,  Mari  ?  "  When  she  brought 
the  box,  Mrs.  Hepburn  unlocked  it,  and  produced  some 
yellow  letters,  which  we  looked  over,  picking  out  here  and 
there  bits  of  Parisian  gossip,  many,  many  years  old.  They 
were  directed  to  Cavendish  Hepburn,  by  his  friend,  the 
original  of  the  portrait.  But  the  letters  were  soon  laid 
aside,  and  we  examined  the  contents  of  the  box.  Old 
brooches,  miniatures  painted  on  ivory,  silhouettes,  hair 
rings,  necklaces,  ear-rings,  chains,  and  finger-rings. 

"  Did  you  wear  this  ?  "  asked  Ann  with  a  longing  voice, 
slipping  an  immense  sapphire  ring  on  her  forefinger. 

"  In  Mr.  Hepburn's  day,"  she  answered,  taking  up  a  small 
case,  which  she  unfastened  and  gave  me.  It  contained  a 
peculiar  pair  of  ear-rings,  and  a  brooch  of  aqua-marina 
stones,  in  a  setting  perforated  like  a  net. 

"  They  suit  you.     Will  you  accept  such  an  old-fashioned  b 
ornament  ?     Put  the  rings  in  ;  here  Ann,  fasten  them." 

Ann  glared  at  her  in  astonishment,  and  then  at  me,  for 
the  reason  which  had  prompted  so  unexpected  a  gift. 

"  Is  it  possible  that  I  am  to  have  them  ?  Why  do  you 
give  them  to  me  ?  They  are  beautiful,"  I  replied. 

"  They  came  from  Europe  long  ago,"  she  said.  '  And 
they  happen  to  suit  you." 


1 88  THE  MORGESONS. 

'  Sabrina  fair, 

Under  the  glassy,  cool,  translucent  wave, 
In  twisted  braids  of  lilies  knitting 
The  loose  train  of  thy  amber-dropping  hair.'  " 

"  Those  lines  make  me  forgive  Paradise  Lost,"  said 
Adelaide. 

"  They  are  very  long,  these  ear-rings,"  Ann  remarked. 

I  put  the  brooch  in  the  knot  of  ribbon  I  wore  ;  Mrs. 
Hepburn  joggled  the  white  satin  bows  of  her  cap  in  appro 
bation. 

The  knocker  resounded.  "  There  is  our  partner,"  she 
cried. 

"  It  must  be  late,  ma'am,"  said  Adelaide  ;  "  and  I  sus 
pect  it  is  some  one  for  us.  You  know  we  never  venture  on 
impromptu  visits,  except  to  you,  and  our  people  know  where 
to  send." 

"  Late  or  not,  you  shall  stay  for  a  game,"  she  said,  as 
Ben  came  in,  hat  in  hand,  declaring  he  had  been  scouting 
for  us  since  dark.  Mrs.  Hepburn  snuffed  the  candles,  and 
rang  the  bell.  The  small  girl,  with  a  perturbed  air,  like  one 
hurried  out  of  a  nap,  brought  in  a  waiter,  which  she  placed 
on  the  sideboard. 

"  Get  to  bed,"  Mrs.  Hepburn  loudly  whispered,  looking 
over  the  waiter,  and  taking  from  it  a  silver  porringer,  she 
put  it  inside  the  fender,  and  then  shuffled  the  cards. 

"  Now,  Ann,  you  may  sit  beside  me  and  learn." 

"  If  it  is  whist,  mum,  I  know  it.  I  played  every  after 
noon  at  Hampton  last  summer,  and  we  spoiled  a  nice  pol 
ished  table,  we  scratched  it  so  with  our  nails,  picking  up 
the  cards." 

"  Young  people  do  too  much,  nowadays." 

I  was  in  the  shadow  of  the  sideboard;  Ben  stood  against  it. 

"  When  have  you  played  whist,  Cassandra  ?  "  he  asked  in 
a  low  voice.  "  Do  you  remember  ?  " 

"  Is  my  name  Cassandra?  " 

"  Have  you  forgotten  that,  too  ? " 

"  I  remember  the  rain." 

"  It  is  not  October,  yet." 

"  And  the  yellow  leaves  do  not  stick  to  the  panes.  Would 
you  like  to  see  Helen  ?  " 

"  Come,  play  with  me,  Ben,"  called  Mrs.  Hepburn. 

"Ann,  try  your  skill,"  I  entreated,  "  and  let  me  off." 


THE  MORGESONS.  189 

"  She  can  try,"  Mrs.  Hepburn  said  sharply.  "  Don't  you 
like  games  ?  1  should  have  said  you  were  by  nature  a  bold 
gamester."  She  dealt  the  cards  rapidly,  and  was  soon  ab 
sorbed  in  the  game,  though  she  quarreled  with  Ann  occa 
sionally,  and  knocked  over  the  candlestick  once.  Adelaide 
played  heroically,  and  was  praised,  though  I  knew  she 
hated  play. 

Two  hours  passed  before  we  were  released.  The  fire 
went  out,  the  candles  burnt  low,  and  whatever  the  contents 
of  the  silver  porringer,  they  had  long  been  cold.  When 
Mrs.  Hepburn  saw  us  determined  to  go,  she  sent  us  to  the 
sideboard  for  some  refreshment.  "My  caudle  is  cold," 
taking  off  the  cover  of  the  porringer.  "  Why,  Mari,  what  is 
this  ? "  she  said,  as  the  woman  made  a  noiseless  entrance 
with  a  bowl  of  hot  caudle. 

"  I  knew  how  it  would  be,"  she  answered,  putting  it  into 
the  hands  of  her  mistress. 

"  I  am  a  desperate  old  rake,  you  mean,  Mari.  There,  take 
your  virtue  off,  you  appall  me." 

She  poured  the  caudle  into  small  silver  tumblers,  and  gave 
them  to  us.  "  The  Bequest  of  a  Friend  "  was  engraved  on 
them.  Her  fingers  were  like  ice,  and  her  head  shook  with 
fatigue  ;  but  her  voice  was  sprightly  and  her  smile  bright. 
Ann  ate  a  good  deal  of  sponge  cake,  and  omitted  the  caudle, 
but  I  drank  mine  to  the  memory  of  the  donor  of  the  cup. 

"  You  know  that  sherry,  Ben,"  and  Mrs.  Hepburn  nodded 
him  toward  a  decanter.  He  put  his  hand  on  it,  and  took 
it  away.  "  None  to-night,"  he  said.  Mari  came  with  our 
shawls,  and  we  hastened  away,  hearing  her  shoot  the  bolt 
of  the  door  behind  us.  Ben  drew  my  arm  in  his,  and  the 
girls  walked  rapidly  before  us.  It  was  a  white,  hazy  night, 
and  the  moon  was  wallowing  in  clouds. 

"  Let  us  walk  off  the  flavor  of  Hep's  cards,"  said  Adelaide, 
"  and  go  to  Wolf's  Point." 

"  Do  you  wish  to  go  ?  "  he  asked  me. 

"  Yes." 

Ann  skipped.     A  nocturnal  excursion  suited  her  exactly. 

"  You  are  not  to  have  the  toothache  to-morrow,  or  pre 
tend  to  be  lame,"  said  Adelaide. 

"  Not  another  hiss,  Adder.     En  avant  !  " 

We  passed  down  Norfolk  Street,  now  dark  and  silent,  and 
reached  our  house.  A  light  was  burning  in  a  room  in  the 


1 90  THE  MORGESONS. 

third  story,  and  a  window  was  open.  Desmond  sat  by  it, 
his  arms  folded  across  his  chest,  smoking,  and  contemplat 
ing  some  object  beyond  our  view.  Ann  derisively  apostro 
phized  him,  under  her  breath,  while  Ben  unlocked  the  court 
gate  and  went  in  after  Rash,  who  came  out  quietly,  and  we 
proceeded.  In  looking  behind  me,  I  stumbled. 

What's  the  matter  ?  "  he  asked.     "  Are  you  afraid  ? " 

Yes." 
<  Of  what  ? " 

The  Prince  of  Darkness." 

The  devil  lives  a  little  behind  us." 
'  In  you,  too,  then  ?" 

In  Rash.  Look  at  him  ;  he  is  bigger  than  Faust's  dog, 
jumps  higher,  and  is  blacker.  You  can't  hear  the  least 
sound  from  him  as  he  gambols  with  his  familiar." 

We  left  the  last  regular  street  on  that  side  of  the  city,  and 
entered  a  road,  bordered  by  trees  and  bushes,  which  hid  the 
country  from  us.  We  crept  through  a  gap  in  it,  crossed 
two  or  three  spongy  fields,  and  ascended  a  hill,  reaching  an 
abrupt  edge  of  the  rocks,  over  whose  earthy  crest  we  walked. 
Below  it  I  saw  a  strip  of  the  sea,  hemmed  in  on  all  sides, 
for  the  light  was  too  vague  for  me  to  see  its  narrow  outlet. 
It  looked  milky,  misty,  and  uncertain  ;  the  predominant 
shores  stifled  its  voice,  if  it  ever  had  one.  Adelaide  and  Ann 
crouched  over  the  edge  of  the  rock,  reciting,  in  a  chanting 
tone,  from  a  poem  beginning  : 

"  The  river  of  thy  thoughts  must  keep 
Its  solemn  course  too  still  and  deep 
For  idle  eyes  to  see." 

Their  false  intonation  of  voice  and  the  wordy  spirit  of 
the  poem  convinced  me  that  poetry  with  them  was  an  arti 
ficial  taste.  I  turned  away.  The  dark  earth  and  the  roll 
ing  sky  were  better.  Ben  followed. 

"  I  hope  Veronica's  letter  will  come  to-morrow,"  he  said 
with  a  groan. 

Veronica  !     Why  Veronica  ?  " 
Don't  torment  me." 
She  writes  letters  seldom." 
'  I  have  written  her." 
'  She  has  never  written  me." 


THE  MORGESONS.  1 9  r 

"  It  might  be  the  means  of  revealing  you  to  each  other  to 
do  so." 

"  Ben,  your  native  air  is  deleterious." 

"  You  laugh.  I  feel  what  you  say.  I  do  not  attempt  to 
play  the  missionary  at  home,  for  my  field  is  not  here." 

"  You  were  wise  not  to  bring  Veronica,  I  see  already." 

"  She  would  see  what  I  hate  myself  for." 

"  One  may  venture  farther  with  a  friend  than  a  lover." 

"  I  thought  \.\\aiyou  might  understand  the  results  of  my 
associations.  Curse  them  all  !  Come,  girls,  we  must  go 
back." 


CHAPTER   XXX. 

4 

I  TOOK  a  cold  that  night.  Belem  was  damp  always,  but 
its  midnight  damp  was  worse  than  any  other.  Mrs. 
Somers  sent  me  medicine.  Adelaide  asked  me,  with  am 
air  of  contemplation,  what  made  me  sick,  and  felt  her  own 
pulse.  Ann  criticised  my  nightgown  ruffles,  and  accused 
me  of  wearing  imitation  lace  ;  but  nursing  was  her  forte, 
and  she  stayed  by  me,  annoying  me  by  a  frequent  beating 
up  of  my  pillow,  and  the  bringing  in  of  bowls  of  strange 
mixtures  for  me  to  swallow,  which  she  persuaded  the  cook 
to  make  and  her  father  to  taste. 

Before  I  left  my  room,  Mrs.  Somers  came  to  see  me. 

"  You  are  about  well,  I  hear,"  she  said,  in  a  cold  voice. 

I  felt  as  if  I  had  been  shamming  sickness. 

"  I  thought  you  were  in  remarkable  health,  your  frame  is 
so  large." 

Adelaide  was  there,  and  answered  for  me.  "You  are 
delicate.  It  must  be  because  you  do  not  take  care  of  your 
self." 

"  Wolf's  Point  to  be  avoided,  perhaps  !  " 

"  I  have  walked  to  Wolf's  Point  for  fifteen  years,  night 
and  day,  many  times." 

"  Mr.  Munster's  man  left  this  note  for  you,"  her  mother 
said,  handing  it  to  her. 

She  read  an  invitation  from  Miss  Munster,  a  cousin,  to  a 
small  party. 

"  You  will  not  be  able  to  go,"  Mrs.  Somers  remarked 
to  me. 


I92  THE  MORGESONS. 

"  You  will  go,"  Adelaide  said  ;  "  it  is  an  attention  to  you 
altogether." 

She  never  replied  to  her  mother,  never  asked  her  any 
questions,  so  that  talking  between  them  was  a  one-sided 
affair. 

"  Let  us  go  out  shopping,  Adelaide  ;  I  want  some  lace  to 
wear,"  I  begged. 

Mrs.  Somers  looked  into  her  drawers,  out  of  which  Ade 
laide  had  thrust  her  finery,  and  found  mine,  but  said  nothing. 

"  We  are  going  to  a  party,  Ann.  Thanks  to  your  messes 
and  your  nursing,"  as  I  passed  her  in  the  hall. 

"  Where  is  your  evening  dress  ? " 

"  Pinned  in  a  napkin — like  my  talent." 

"  Old  Cousin  Munster,  the  pirate,  who  made  his  money  in 
the  opium  trade,  has  good  things  in  his  house.  I  suppose," 
with  a  coquettish  air,  "  that  you  will  see  Ned  Munster ;  he 
would  walk  to  the  door  with  me  to-day.  He  wishes  me  out, 
I  know." 

We  consumed  that  evening  in  talking  of  dress.  Adelaide 
showed  me  her  camel's-hair  scarfs  which  Desmond  had 
brought,  and  her  dresses.  Ann  tried  them  all  on,  walking 
up  and  down,  and  standing  tiptoe  before  the  glass,  while  I 
trimmed  a  handkerchief  with  the  lace  I  had  purchased.  I 
unfolded  my  dress  after  they  were  gone,  with  a  dubious 
mind.  It  was  a  heavy  white  silk,  with  a  blue  satin  stripe. 
It  might  be  too  old-fashioned,  for  it  belonged  to  mother, 
who  would  never  wear  it.  The  sleeves  were  puffed  with 
bands  of  blue  velvet,  and  the  waist  was  covered  with  a  berthe" 
of  the  same.  It  must  do,  however,  for  I  had  no  other. 

We  were  to  go  at  nine.  Adelaide  came  to  my  room 
dressed,  and  with  her  hair  arranged  exactly  like  mine.  She 
looked  well,  in  spite  of  her  Mongolic  face. 

"  Pa  wants  to  see  us  in  his  room  ;  he  has  gone  to  bed." 

"  Wait  a  moment,"  I  begged.  I  took  my  hair  down,  un- 
braided  it,  brushed  it  out  of  curl  as  much  as  I  could,  twisted 
it  into  a  loose  mass,  through  which  I  stuck  pins  enough  to 
hold  it,  bound  a  narrow  fillet  of  red  velvet  round  my  head, 
and  ran  after  her. 

"That  is  much  better,"  she  said  ;  "you  are  entirely 
changed."  Desmond  was  there,  in  his  usual  careless  dress, 
hanging  over  the  footboard  of  the  bed,  and  Ann  was  hud 
dled  on  the  outside.  Mrs.  Somers  was  reading. 


THE  MORGESONS.  1 93 

"  Pa,"  said  Ann,  "just  think  of  Old  Hepburn's  giving  her 
a  pair  of  lovely  ear-rings." 

"  Did  she  ?     Where  are  they  ?  "  asked  Mrs.  Somers. 

"  I  am  not  surprised,"  said  Mr.  Somers.  "  Mrs.  Hepburn 
knows  where  to  bestow.  Why  not  wear  them  ? " 

"  I'll  get  them,"  said  Ann. 

Mr.  Somers  continued  his  compliments.  He  thought 
there  was  a  pleasing  contrast  between  Adelaide  and  myself, 
referred  to  Diana,  mentioned  that  my  hair  was  remarkably 
thick,  and  proceeded  with  a  dissertation  on  the  growth  and 
decay  of  the  hair,  when  she  returned  with  the  ear-rings. 

"  It  is  too  dark  here,"  she  said. 

Desmond,  who  had  remained  silent,  took  the  candle, 
which  Mrs.  Somers  was  reading  by,  and  held  it  for  Ann, 
close  to  my  face.  The  operation  was  over,  but  the  candle 
was  not  taken  away  till  Mrs.  Somers  asked  for  it  sharply. 

"  I  dare  say,"  murmured  Mr.  Somers,  who  was  growing 
drowsy,  "  that  Mrs.  Hepburn  wore  them  some  night,  when 
she  went  to  John  Munster's,  forty  years  ago,  and  now  you 
wear  them  to  the  son's.  How  things  come  round  !  " 

The  Munsters'  man  opened  the  door  for  us. 

The  rooms  were  full.  "Very  glad,"  said  Mr.,  Mrs.,  and 
Miss  Munster,  and  amid  a  loud  buzz  we  fell  back  into 
obscurity.  Adelaide  joined  a  group,  who  were  talking  at  the 
top  of  their  voices,  with  most  hilarious  countenances. 

"  They  pretend  to  have  a  Murillo  here,  let  us  go  and 
find  it,"  said  Ben. 

It  was  in  a  small  room.  While  we  looked  at  a  dark- 
haired,  handsome  woman,  standing  on  brown  clouds,  with 
hands  so  fat  that  every  finger  stood  apart,  Miss  Munster 
brought  up  a  young  gentleman  with  the  Munster  cast  of 
countenance. 

"  My  brother  begs  an  introduction,  Miss  Morgeson." 

Ben  retired,  and  Mr.  Munster  began  to  talk  volubly,  with 
wandering  eyes,  repeating  words  he  was  in  danger  of  forget 
ting.  No  remarks  were  required  from  me.  At  the  proper 
moment  he  asked  me  to  make  the  tour  of  the  rooms,  and 
offered  his  arm.  As  we  were  crossing  the  hall,  I  saw  Des 
mond,  hat  in  hand,  and  in  faultless  evening  dress,  bowing  to 
Miss  Munster. 

"  Your  Cousin  Desmond,  and  mine,  is  a  fine-looking  man, 
is  he  not  ?  Let  us  speak  to  him." 


194  THE  MORGESONS. 

I  drew  back.     "  I'll  not  interrupt  his  devoir" 

He  bowed  submissively. 

"  My  cousin  Desmond,"  I  thought ;  "  let  me  examine 
this  beauty."  He  was  handsomer  than  Ben,  his  complexion 
darker,  and  his  hair  black.  There  was  a  flush  across  his 
cheek-bones,  as  if  he  had  once  blushed,  and  the  blush  had 
settled.  The  color  of  his  eyes  I  could  not  determine.  As 
if  to  resolve  my  doubt,  he  came  toward  us  ;  they  were  a 
deep  violet,  and  the  lids  were  fringed  with  long  black  lashes. 
I  speculated  on  something  animal  in  those  eyes.  He  stood 
beside  me,  and  twisted  his  heavy  mustache. 

"What  a  pretty  boudoir  this  is,"  I  said,  backing  into  a 
little  room  behind  us. 

"  Ned,"  he  said  abruptly,  "  you  must  resign  Miss  Morge- 
son  ;  I  am  here  to  see  her." 

"  Of  course,"  Ned  answered  ;  "  I  relinquish." 

Before  a  word  was  spoken  between  us,  Mrs.  Munster 
touched  Desmond  on  the  shoulder,  and  told  him  that  he 
must  come  with  her,  to  be  introduced  to  Count  Montholon. 

"  Bring  him  here,  please." 

"  Tyrant,"  she  answered  playfully,  "  the  Count  shall 
come." 

He  brought  a  chair.  "  Take  this  ;  you  are  pale.  You 
have  been  ill."  Bringing  another,  he  seated  himself  before 
me  and  fanned  himself  with  his  hat. 

Mrs.  Munster  came  back  with  the  Count,  an  elderly  man, 
and  Desmond  rose  to  meet  him,  keeping  his  hand  on  the 
back  of  his  chair.  They  spoke  French.  The  freedom  of 
their  conversation  precluded  the  idea  of  my  understanding 
it.  The  Count  made  a  remark  about  me.  Desmond  re 
plied,  glancing  at  me,  and  both  pulled  their  mustaches. 
The  Count  was  called  away  soon,  and  Desmond  resumed 
his  chair. 

"  I  understood  you,"  I  said. 

"  The  deuce  you  did." 

He  placed  his  hat  over  a  vase  of  flowers,  which  tipping 
over,  he  leisurely  righted,  and  bending  toward  me,  said  : 

"  It  was  in  battle." 

"  Yes." 

"  And  women  like  you,  pure,  with  no  vice  of  blood,  some 
times  are  tempted,  struggle,  and  suffer." 

His  words,  still  more  his  voice,  made  we  wince. 


THE  MORGESONS.  195 

"  Even  drawn  battles  bring  their  scars,"  I  replied. 

"  Convince  me  beyond  all  doubt  that  a  woman  can  reason 
with  her  impulses,  or  even  fathom  them,  and  I  will  be  in 
your  debt." 

"  Maybe — but  Ben  is  coming." 

He  looked  at  me  strangely. 

"  You  must  find  this  very  dull,  Cassandra,"  said  Ben, 
joining  us. 

"  Cassandra"  said  Desmond,  "  are  you  bored  ?  " 

The  accent  with  which  he  spoke  my  name  set  my  pulses 
striking  like  a  clock.  I  got  up  mechanically,  as  Ben  di 
rected. 

"  They  are  going  to  supper.  There's  game.  Des. 
Munster  told  me  to  take  the  northeast  corner  of  the 
table." 

"  I  shall  take  the  southwest,  then,"  he  replied,  nodding 
to  a  tall  gentleman  who  passed  with  Adelaide.  When  we 
left  him,  he  was  observing  a  carved  oak  chair,  in  occult 
sympathy  probably  with  the  grain  of  the  wood.  Nature 
strikes  us  with  her  phenomena  at  times  when  other  re 
sources  are  not  at  hand. 

We  were  compelled  to  wait  at  the  door  of  the  supper- 
room,  the  jam  was  so  great. 

"  What  fairy  story  do  you  like  best  ?  "  asked  Ben 

"  I  know  which  you  like." 

«  Well  ? " 

"  Bluebeard.  You  have  an  affinity  with  Sister  Ann  in  the 
tower." 

"  Do  you  think  I  see  nothing  '  but  the  sun  which  makes 
a  dust  and  the  grass  which  looks  green  '?  I  believe  you 
like  Bluebeard,  too." 

That  was  a  great  joke,  at  which  we  both  laughed. 

When  I  saw  Desmond  again,  he  was  surrounded  by 
men,  the  French  Count  among  them,  drinking  champagne. 
He  held  a  bottle,  and  was  talking  fast.  The  others  were 
laughing.  His  listless,  morose  expression  had  disap 
peared  ;  in  the  place  of  a  brutal-tempered,  selfish,  bored 
man,  I  saw  a  brilliant,  jovial  gentleman.  Which  was  the 
real  man  ? 

"  Finish  your  jelly,"  said  Ben. 

"  I  prefer  looking  at  your  brother." 

"  Leave  my  brother  alone." 


»96  THE  MORGESONS. 

"-  You  see  nothing  but  '  the  sun  which  makes  a  dust,  and 
the  grass  which  looks  green.' " 

Miss  Munster  hoped  I  was  cared  for.  How  gay  Des 
mond  was  !  she  had  not  seen  such  a  look  in  his  face  in  a 
long  time.  And  how  strongly  he  was  marked  with  the 
family  traits. 

"  How  am  I  marked,  May  ? "  asked  Ben. 

"  Oh,  we  know  worse  eccentrics  than  you  are.  What  are 
you  up  to  now  ?  You  are  not  as  frank  as  Desmond." 

He  laughed  as  he  looked  at  me,  and  then  Adelaide 
called  to  us  that  it  was  time  to  leave. 

We  were  among  the  last ;  the  carriage  was  waiting.  We 
made  our  bows  to  Mrs.  Munster,  who  complained  of  not 
having  seen  more  of  us.  "  You  are  a  favorite  of  Mrs. 
Hepburn's,  Miss  Morgeson,  I  am  told.  She  is  a  remark 
able  woman,  has  great  powers."  I  mentioned  my  one 
interview  with  her.  Guests  were  going  upstairs  with  smiles, 
and  coming  down  without,  released  from  their  company 
manners.  We  rode  home  in  silence,  except  that  Adelaide 
yawned  fearfully,  and  then  we  toiled  up  the  long  stairs, 
separating  with  a  tired,  "  good-night." 

I  extinguished  my  candle  by  dropping  my  shawl  upon 
it,  and  groped  in  vain  for  matches  over  the  tops  of  table 
and  shelf. 

"  To  bed  in  the  dark,  then,"  I  said,  pulling  off  my  gloves 
and  the  band,  from  my  head,  for  I  felt  a  tightness  in  it,  and 
pulled  out  the  hairpins.  But  a  desire  to  look  in  the  glass 
overcame  me.  I  felt  unacquainted  with  myself,  and  must 
see  what  my  aspect  indicated  just  then. 

I  crept  downstairs,  to  the  dining-room,  passed  my  hands 
over  the  sideboard,  the  mantel  shelf,  and  took  the  round 
of  the  dinner-table,  but  found  nothing  to  light  my  candle 
with. 

"  The  fire  may  not  be  out  in  the  parlor,"  I  thought  ;  "  it 
can  be  lighted  there."  I  ran  against  the  hatstand  in  the 
hall,  knocking  a  cane  down,  which  fell  with  a  loud  noise. 
The  parlor  door  was  ajar  ;  the  fire  was  not  out,  and  Des 
mond  was  before  it,  watching  its  decay. 

"  What  is  it  ? "  he  asked. 

"  The  candle,"  I  stammered,  confused  with  the  necessity 
of  staying  to  have  it  lighted,  and  the  propriety  of  retreating 
in  the  dark. 


THE  MORGESONS.  197 

"  Shall  I  light  it  ?  " 

I  stepped  a  little  further  inside  the  door  and  gave  it  to 
him.  He  grew  warm  with  thrusting  it  between  the  bars  of 
the  grate,  and  I  grew  chilly.  Shivering,  and  with  chatter 
ing  teeth,  I  made  out  to  say,  "  A  piece  of  paper  would  do 
it."  Raising  his  head  hastily,  it  came  crash  against  the  edge 
of  the  marble  shelf.  Involuntarily  I  shut  the  door,  and 
leaned  against  it,  to  wait  for  the  effect  of  the  blow  ;  but 
feeling  a  pressure  against  the  outside,  I  yielded  to  it,  and 
moved  aside.  Mrs.  Somers  entered,  with  a  candle  flaring 
in  one  hand,  and  holding  with  the  other  her  dressing-gown 
across  her  bosom. 

"  What  are  you  doing  here  ?  "  she  asked  harshly,  but  in  a 
whisper,  her  eyes  blazing  like  a  panther's. 

"  Doing  ?  "  I  replied  ;   "  stay  and  see." 

She  swept  along,  and  I  followed,  bringing  up  close  to 
Desmond,  who  had  his  hand  round  his  head,  and  was  very 
pale,  either  from  the  effect  of  the  blow  or  some  other  cause. 
Even  the  flush  across  his  cheeks  had  faded.  She  looked  at 
him  sharply  ;  he  moved  his  hands  from  his  head,  and  met 
her  eyes.  "  I  am  not  drunk,  you  see,"  he  said  in  a  low 
voice.  She  made  an  insulting  gesture  toward  me,  which 
meant,  "  Is  this  an  adventure  of  yours  ? " 

The  blaze  in  her  eyes  kindled  a  more  furious  one  in  his  ; 
he  stepped  forward  with  a  threatening  motion. 

Anger  raged  through  me — like  a  fierce  rain  that  strikes 
flat  a  violent  sea.  I  laid  my  hand  on  her  arm,  which  she 
snapped  at  like  a  wolf,  but  I  spoke  calmly: 

"  You  tender,  true-hearted  creature,  full  of  womanly 
impulses,  allow  me  to  light  my  candle  by  yours  !  " 

I  picked  it  from  the  hearth,  lighted  it,  and  held  it  close  to 
her  face,  laughing,  though  I  never  felt  less  merry.  But  I 
had  restrained  him. 

He  took  the  candle  away  gently. 

"  Leave  the  room,"  he  said  to  her. 

She  beckoned  me  to  go. 

"  No,  you  shall  go." 

They  made  a  simultaneous  movement  with  their  hands, 
he  to  insist,  she  to  deprecate,  and  I  again  observed  how 
exactly  alike  they  were. 

"Desmond"  I  implored,  "pray  allow  me  to  go." 

A  deep  flush  suffused  his  face.     He  bowed,  threw  wide 


1 98  THE  MORGESONS. 

the  door,  and  followed  me  to  the  foot  of  the  stairs.  I 
reached  my  hand  for  the  candle,  for  he  retained  both. 

"  You,  pardon  first." 

"  For  what  ?  " 

"  For  much  ?  oh — for  much." 

What  story  my  face  told,  I  could  not  have  told  him.  He 
kissed  my  hand  and  turned  away. 

At  the  top  of  the  stairs  I  looked  down.  He  was  there 
with  upturned  face,  watching  me.  Whether  he  went  back 
to  confer  with  his  mother,  I  never  knew  ;  if  he  did,  the 
expression  which  he  wore  then  must  have  troubled  her.  I 
went  to  bed,  wondering  over  the  mischief  that  a  candle 
could  do.  After  I  had  extinguished  it,  its  wick  glowed  in 
the  dark  like  a  one-eyed  demon. 


CHAPTER    XXXI. 

ANOTHER  week  passed.      Ben  had  received  a  letter 
from  Veronica,  informing  him  that  letter-writing  was  a 
kind  of  composition  she  was  not  fond   of.     He  must 
come  to  her,  and  then  there  would  be  no  need  for  writing. 
Her  letter  exasperated    him.     His  tenacious  mind,   lying 
in  wait  to  close  upon  hers,  was  irritated  by  her  simple,  can 
did  behavior.     I  could  give  him  no  consolation,  nor  did 
I  care  to.     It  suited  me  thac  his  feelings  for  her  weakened 
his  penetration  in  regard  to  me. 

When  he  roused  at  the  expression  which  he  saw  Des 
mond  fix  upon  me  the  night  that  Major  Millard  was  there, 
I  expected  a  rehearsal  from  him  of  watchfulness  and  sus 
picion  ;  but  no  symptom  appeared.  I  was  glad,  for  I  was 
in  love  with  Desmond.  I  had  known  it  from  the  night  of 
Miss  Munster's  party.  The  morning  after  I  woke  to  know  my 
soul  had  built  itself  a  lordly  pleasure-house  ;  its  dome  and 
towers  were  firm  and  finished,  glowing  in  the  light  that 
"never  was  on  land  or  sea."  How  elate  I  grew  in  this 
atmosphere  !  The  face  of  Nemesis  was  veiled  even.  No 
eye  saw  the  pure,  pale  nimbus  ringed  above  it.  I  did  not 
see  him,  except  as  an  apparition,  for  suddenly  he  had  be 
come  the  most  unobtrusive  member  of  the  family,  silent 
and  absent.  Immunity  from  espionage  was  the  immutable 


THE  MORGESONS.  199 

family  rule.  Mrs.  Somers,  under  the  direction  of  that  spirit 
which  isolated  me  from  all  exterior  influences,  for  a  little 
time  had  shut  down  the  lid  of  her  evil  feelings,  and  was 
quiet  ;  watching  me,  perhaps,  but  not  annoying.  Mr. 
Somers  was  engaged  with  the  subject  of  ventilation.  Ann, 
to  convince  herself  that  she  had  a  musical  talent,  practiced 
of  afternoons  till  she  was  turned  out  by  Adelaide,  who  had 
a  fit  of  reading  abstruse  works,  sometimes  seeking  me  with 
fingers  thrust  between  their  leaves  to  hold  abstract  conver 
sations,  which,  though  I  took  small  part  in  them,  were  of 
service. 

That  portion  of  the  world  of  emotions  which  I  was  map 
ping  out  she  was  profoundly  indifferent  to.  My  experiences 
to  her  would  have  been  debasing.  As  she  would  not  come 
to  me,  I  went  to  her,  and  gained  something. 

Ben,  always  a  favorite  with  his  father,  pursued  him,  rode 
with  him,  and  made  visits  of  pleasure  or  business,  with  a 
latent  object  which  kept  him  on  the  alert. 

I  had  been  in  Belem  three  weeks  ;  in  a  week  more  I  de 
cided  to  return  home.  My  indignation  against  Mrs.  Somers, 
from  our  midnight  interview,  had  not  suggested  that  I 
should  shorten  my  visit.  On  the  contrary,  it  had  freed  me 
from  any  regard  or  fear  of  her  opinion.  I  had  discovered 
her  limits. 

It  was  Saturday  afternoon.  Reflecting  that  I  had  but  a 
few  days  more  for  Belem,  and  summing  up  the  events  of 
my  visit  and  the  people  I  had  met,  their  fashions  and 
differences,  I  unrolled  a  tolerable  panorama,  with  patches 
in  it  of  vivid  color,  and  laid  it  away  in  my  memory,  to  be 
unrolled  again  at  some  future  time.  Then  a  faint  shadow 
dropped  across  my  mind  like  a  curtain,  the  first  that  cloud 
ed  my  royal  palace,  my  mental  paradise  ! 

I  sighed.  Joyless,  vacant,  barren  hours  prefigured  them 
selves  to  me,  drifting  through  my  brain,  till  their  vacant 
shapes  crowded  it  into  darkness.  I  must  do  something  ! 
I  would  go  out  ;  a  walk  would  be  good  for  me.  More 
over,  wishing  to  purchase  a  parting  gift  for  Adelaide 
and  Ann,  I  would  go  alone.  Wandering  from  shop  to  shop 
in  Norfolk  Street,  without  finding  the  articles  I  desired, 
I  turned  into  a  street  which  crossed  it,  and  found  the  right 
shop.  Seeing  Drummond  Street  on  an  old  gable-end  house, 
a  desire  to  exchange  with  some  one  a  language  which 


200  THE  MORGESONS. 

differed  from  my  thoughts  prompted  me  to  look  up  Mrs. 
Hepburn.  I  soon  came  to  her  house,  and  knocked  at  the 
door,  which  Mari  opened.  The  current  was  already 
changed,  as  I  followed  her  into  a  room  different  from  the 
one  where  I  had  seen  Mrs.  Hepburn.  It  was  dull  of  aspect, 
long  and  narrow,  with  one  large  window  opening  on  the 
old-fashioned  garden,  and  from  which  I  saw  a  discolored 
marble  Flora.  Mrs.  Hepburn  was  by  the  window,  in  her 
high  chair.  She  held  out  her  hand  and  thanked  me 
for  coming  to  see  an  old  woman.  Motioning  her  head 
toward  a  dark  corner,  she  said,  "  There  is  a  young  man  who 
likes  occasionally  to  visit  an  old  woman  aisc.' 

The  young  man,  twenty-nine  years  old,  was  Desmond. 
He  crossed  the  room  and  offered  me  his  hand.  We  had 
not  spoken  since  we  parted  at  the  stairs  that  memorab\e 
night.  He  hastily  brought  chairs,  and  placed  them  near 
Mrs.  Hepburn,  who  seized  her  spectacles,  which  were  on  a 
silk  workbag  beside  her,  scanned  us  through  them,  and 
exclaimed,  "  Ah  ha  !  what  is  this  ?  " 

"  Is  it  something  in  me,  ma'am  ?  "  said  Desmond,  putting 
his  head  before  my  face  so  that  it  was  hid  from  her. 

"  Something  in  both  of  you  ;  thief  !  thief  !  " 

She  rubbed  her  frail  hand  against  my  sleeve,  muttering, 
"  See  now,  so  ! — the  same  characteristics." 

"  I  spoke  of  the  difference  of  the  rooms  ;  the  one  we 
were  in  reminded  me  of  a  lizard  !  The  walls  were  faint 
gray,  and  every  piece  of  furniture  was  covered  with  plain 
yellow  chintz,  while  the  carpet  was  a  pale  green.  She  re 
plied  that  she  always  moved  from  her  winter  parlor  to  this 
summer  room  on  the  twenty-second  day  of  April,  which 
had  fallen  the  day  before,  for  she  liked  to  watch  the  coming 
out  of  the  shrubs  in  the  garden,  which  were  as  old  as  her 
self.  The  chestnut  had  leaved  seventy  times  and  more  ; 
and  the  crippled  plum,  whose  fruit  was  so  wormy  to  eat, 
was  dying  with  age.  As  for  the  elms  at  the  bottom  of  the 
garden,  for  all  she  knew  they  were  a  thousand  years  old. 

"  The  elms  are  a  thousand  years  old,"  I  repeated  and  re 
peated  to  myself,  while  she  glided  from  topic  to  topic  with 
Desmond,  whose  conversation  indicated  that  he  was  as 
cultivated  as  any  ordinary  gentleman,  when  the  Pickersgill 
element  was  not  apparent.  The  form  of  the  garden- 
goddess  faded,  the  sun  had  gone  below  the  garden  wall. 


THE  MORGESdNS.  20 1 

The  garden  grew  dusk,  and  the  elms  began  to  nod  their 
tops  at  me.  I  became  silent,  listening  to  the  fall  of  the 
plummet,  which  dropped  again  and  again  from  the  topmost 
height  of  that  lordly  domain,  over  which  shadows  had 
come.  Were  they  sounding  its  foundations  ? 

My  eyes  roved  the  garden,  seeking  the  nucelus  of  an 
emotion  which  beset  me  now — not  they,  but  my  senses, 
formed  it — in  a  garden  miles  away,  where  nodded  a  row  of 
elms,  under  which  Charles  Morgeson  stood. 

"  /  am  glad  you1  re  here,  my  darling,  do  you  smell  the  roses  ?  " 

"  Are  you  going  ?  "  I  heard  Mrs.  Hepburn  say  in  a  far-off 
voice.  I  was  standing  by  the  door. 

"  Yes,  madam  ;  the  summer  parlor  does  not  delay  the 
sunset." 

"  Come  again.     When  do  you  leave  Belem  ?" 

"  In  few  days." 

Desmond  made  a  grimace,  and  went  to  the  window. 

"  Who  returns  with  you,"she  continued,  "  Ben  ?  He  likes 
piloting." 

"  I  hope  he  will ;  I  came  here  to  please  him." 

"  Pooh  !  You  came  here  because  Mr.  Somers  had  a 
crotchet." 

"  Well  ;  I  was  permitted  somehow  to  come." 

"  It  was  perfectly  right.  A  woman  like  you  need  not 
question  whether  a  thing  is  convenable." 

Desmond  turned  from  the  window,  and  bestowed  upon 
her  a  benign  smile,  which  she  returned  with  a  satisfied  nod. 

This  implied  flattery  tinkled  pleasantly  on  my  ears, 
allaying  a  doubt  which  I  suffered  from.  Did  I  realize  how 
much  the  prestige  of  those  Belem  saints  influenced  me, 
or  how  proud  I  was  with  the  conviction  of  affiliation  with 
those  who  were  plainly  marked  with  Caste  ? 

"  Walk  with  me,"  he  demanded,  as  we  were  going  down 
the  steps. 

We  passed  out  of  Drummond  Street  into  a  wide  open 
common.  Rosy  clouds  floated  across  the  zenith,  and  a 
warm,  balmy  wind  was  blowing.  I  thought  of  Veronica, 
calm  and  happy,  as  the  spring  always  made  her,  and  the 
thought  was  a  finishing  blow  to  the  variety  of  moods  I  had 
passed  through.  The  helm  of  my  will  was  broken. 

"  There  is  a  good  view  from  Moss  Hill  yonder,"  he  said. 
"  Shall  we  go  up  ? " 


202  THE  MORGESONS. 

I  bowed,  declining  his  arm,  and  trudged  beside  him. 
From  its  summit  Belem  was  only  half  in  sight.  Its  old, 
crooked  streets  sloped  and  disappeared  from  view  ;  Wolf's 
Point  was  at  the  right  of  us,  and  its  thread  of  sea.  I  began 
talking  of  our  walk,  and  was  giving  an  extended  description 
of  it,  when  he  abruptly  asked  why  I  came  to  Belem. 

"  I  know,"  he  said,  "  that  you  would  not  have  come,  had 
there  been  any  sentiment  between  you  and  Ben." 

"  Thanks  for  your  implication.  But  I  must  have  made  the 
visit,  you  know,  or  how  could  I  learn  that  I  should  not  have 
made  it  ? " 

"  You  regret  coming  ?  " 

"  Veronica  will  give  me  no  thanks." 

"  Who  is  she  ?" 

"  My  sister,  whom  Ben  loves." 

"  Ben  love  a  sister  of  yours  ?  My  God — how  ?  when 
first  ?  where  ?  And  how  came  you  to  meet  him  ?  " 

"  That  chapter  of  accidents  need  not  be  recounted.  Can 
you  help  him? " 

"What  can  I  do?"  he  said  roughly.  "There  is  little 
love  between  us.  You  know  what  a  devil's  household  ours 
is  ;  but  he  is  one  of  us — he  is  afraid." 

"  Of  what  ? " 

"  Of  mother — of  our  antecedents — of  himself." 

"  I  could  not  expect  you  to  speak  well  of  him." 

"  Of  course  not.     Your  sister  has  no  fortune  ?  " 

"  She  has  not.  Men  whose  merchandise  is  ships  are  apt 
to  die  bankrupt." 

"  Your  father  is  a  merchant  ? " 

"  Even  at  that,  the  greatest  of  the  name. 

"  We  are  all  tied  up,  you  know.  Ben's  allowance  is  smaller 
than  mine.  He  is  easy  about  money  ;  therefore  he  is  pa's 
favorite." 

"  Why  do  you  not  help  yourselves? " 

"  Do  you  think  so  ?  You  have  not  known  us  long.  Have 
you  influenced  Ben  to  help  himself?" 

I  marched  down  the  hill  without  reply.  Repassing  Mrs. 
Hepburn's,  he  said,  "  My  grandfather  was  an  earl's  son." 

"  Mrs.  Hepburn  likes  you  for  that.  My  grandfather  was 
a  tailor ;  I  should  have  told  her  so,  when  she  gave  me  the 
aqua  marina  jewels." 

"  Had  you  the  courage  ?  " 


THE  MORGESOXS.  203 

"  I  forgot  both  the  fact  and  the  courage." 

I  hurried  along,  for  it  grew  dark,  and  presently  saw  Ben 
on  the  steps  of  the  house. 

"  Have  you  been  walking  ? "  he  asked. 

"  It  looks  so.  Yes,  with  me,"  answered  Desmond.  "  Wont 
you  give  me  thanks  for  attention  to  your  friend  ?  " 

"  It  must  have  been  a  whim  of  Cassandra's." 

"  Break  her  of  whims,  if  you  can — " 

44 1  will" 

We  went  into  the  parlor  together. 

"  Where  do  you  think  I  have  been  ? "  Ben  asked. 

"  Where  ? " 

"For  the  doctor.  The  baby  is  sick";  and  he  looked 
hard  at  Desmond. 

"  I  hope  it  will  live  for  years  and  years,"  I  said. 

"  I  know  what  you  are  at,  Ben,"  said  Desmond.  "  I  have 
wished  the  brat  dead  ;  but  upon  my  soul,  I  have  a  stronger 
wish  than  that — I  have  forgotten  it." 

There  was  no  falseness  in  his  voice  ;  he  spoke  the  truth. 

"  Forgive  me,  Des." 

"  No  matter  about  that,"  he  answered,  sauntering  off. 

I  felt  happier  ;  that  spark  of  humanity  warmed  me.     I 
might  not  have  another.     "  I  would,"  I  said,  "  that  the  last 
day,  the  last  moments  of  my  visit  had  come.     You  will  see 
me  henceforth  in  Surrey.     I  will  live  and  die  there." 
To-night,"  Ben  said,  "  I  am  going  to  tell  pa." 
That  is  best." 
Horrible  atmosphere ! " 
It  would  kill  Verry." 

You  thrive  in  it,"  he  said,  with  a  spice  of  irritation  in 
his  voice. 

"Thrive!" 

Adelaide  and  Ann  proved  gracious  over  my  gift.  They 
were  talking  of  the  doctor's  visit.  Ann  said  the  child  was 
teething,  for  she  had  felt  its  gums  ;  nothing  else  was  the 
matter.  There  need  be  no  apprehension.  She  should  say  so 
to  Desmond  and  Ben,  and  would  post  a  letter  to  her 
brother  in  unknown  parts. 

"  Miss  Hiticutt  has  sent  for  us  to  come  over  to  tea," 
Adelaide  informed  me.  The  black  silk  I  wore  would  do, 
for  we  must  go  at  once. 

The  quiet,  formal  evening  was  a  pleasant  relief,  although 


204  THE  MORGESONS. 

I  was  troubled  with  a  desire  to  inform  Mrs.  Somers  of 
Ben's  engagement,  for  the  sake  of  exasperating  her.  We 
came  home  too  early  for  bed,  Adelaide  said  ;  beside,  she  had 
music-hunger.  I  must  sing.  Mrs.  Somers  was  by  the  fire, 
darning  fine  napkins,  winking  over  her  task,  maintaining  in 
her  aspect  the  determination  to  avert  any  danger  of  a  mid 
night  interview  with  Desmond.  That  gentleman  was  at 
present  sleeping  on  a  sofa.  I  seated  myself  before  the  piano-, 
wondering  whether  he  slept  from  wine,  ennui,  or  to  while 
away  the  time  till  I  should  come.  I  touched  the  keys  softly, 
waiting  for  an  interpreting  voice,  and  half  unconsciously 
sang  the  lines  of  Schiller  : 

"  I  hear  the  sound  of  music,  and  the  halls 
Are  full  of  light.     Who  are  the  revelers  ?  " 

Desmond  made  an  inarticulate  noise  and  sprang  up,  as  if 
in  answer  to  a  call.  A  moment  after  he  stepped  quietly 
over  the  back  of  the  sofa  and  stood  bending  over  me.  I 
looked  up.  His  eyes  were  clear,  his  face  alive  with  intui 
tion.  Though  Adelaide  was  close  by,  she  was  oblivious  ; 
her  eyes  were  cast  upward  and  her  fingers  lay  languid  in 
her  lap.  Ann,  more  lively,  introduced  a  note  here  and 
there  into  my  song  to  her  own  satisfaction.  Mrs.  Somers  I 
could  not  see  ;  but  I  stopped  and,  giving  the  music  stool  a 
turn,  faced  her.  She  met  me  with  her  pale,  opaque  stare, 
and  began  to  swing  her  foot  over  her  knee  ;  her  slipper, 
already  down  at  her  heel,  fell  off.  I  picked  it  up  in  spite 
of  her  negative  movement  and  hung  it  on  the  foot  again. 

"  I  shall  speak  with  you  presently,"  she  whispered, 
glancing  at  Desmond. 

He  heard  her  and  his  face  flashed  with  the  instinct  of 
sport,  which  made  me  ashamed  of  any  desire  for  a  struggle 
with  her. 

"  Good-night,"  I  said  abruptly,  turning  away. 

"  We  are  all  sleepy  except  this  exemplary  housewife  with 
her  napkins,"  cried  Ann.  "  We  will  leave  her." 

"  Cassandra,"  said  Adelaide,  when  we  were  on  the  stairs, 
"  how  well  you  look  !  " 

Ann,  elevating  her  candle,  remarked  my  eyes  shone  like 
a  cat's. 

"  Hiticutt's  tea  was  too  strong,"  added  Adelaide  ;  "  it 
dilates  the  pupils.  I  am  sorry  you  are  going  away,"  and 


THE  MORGESONS.  205 

she  kissed  me  ;  this  favor  would  have  moved  me  at  any 
other  time,  but  now  I  rejoiced  to  see  her  depart  and  leave 
me  alone.  I  sat  down  by  the  toilet  table  and  was  arrang 
ing  some  bottles,  when  Mrs.  Somers  rustled  in.  Out  of 
breath,  she  began  haughtily  : 

"  What  do  you  mean  ? " 

A  lethargic  feeling  crept  over  me  ;  my  thoughts  wandered  ; 
I  never  spoke  nor  stirred  till  she  pulled  my  sleeve  violently. 

"  If  you  touch  me  it  will  rouse  me.  Did  a  child  of  yours 
ever  inflict  a  blow  upon  you  ?  " 

She  turned  purple  with  rage,  looming  up  before  my  vision 
like  a  peony. 

"When  are  you  going  home?" 

I  counted  aloud,  "  Sunday — Monday,"  and  stopped  at 
Wednesday.     "Ben  is  going  back  with  me." 
He  may  go." 
And  not  Desmond  ?" 
Do  you  know  Desmond  ?  " 
Not  entirely." 

He  has  played  with  such  toys  as  you  are,  and  broken 
them." 

"  Alas,  he  is  hereditarily  cruel !  Could  /  expect  not  to  be 
broken  ? " 

She  caught  up  a  glass  goblet  as  if  to  throw  it,  but  only 
grasped  it  so  tight  that  it  shivered.  "  There  goes  one  of 
the  Pickersgill  treasures,  I  am  sure,"  I  thought. 

"  I  am  already  scarred,  you  see.  I  have  been  '  nurtured 
in  convulsions.'  ' 

The  action  seemed  to  loosen  her  speech  ;  but  she  had  to 
nerve  herself  to  say  what  she  intended  ;  for  some  reason  or 
other,  she  could  not  remain  as  angry  as  she  wished.  What 
she  said  I  will  not  repeat. 

"  Madam,  I  have  no  plans.  If  I  have  a  Purpose,  it  is 
formless  yet.  If  God  saves  us  what  can  you  do  ? " 

She  made  a  gesture  of  contempt. 

"  You  have  no  soul  to  thank  me  for  what  may  be  my 
work,"  and  I  opened  the  door. 

Ben  stood  on  the  threshhold. 

"  In  God's  name,  what  is  this  ?'' 

I  pointed  to  his  mother.  She  looked  uneasy,  and  stepping 
forward  put  her  hand  on  his  arm  ;  but  he  shook  her  off. 

"  You  may  call  me  a  fool,  Cassandra,  for  bringing  you 


206  THE  MORGESONS. 

here,"  he  said  in  a  bitter  voice,  "  besides  calling  me  cruel 
for  subjecting  you  to  these  ordeals.  I  knew  how  it  would 
be  with  mother.  What  is  it,  madam  ? "  he  asked  imperi 
ously,  looking  so  much  like  her  that  I  shuddered. 

"  It  is  not  you  she  is  after,"  she  hotly  exclaimed. 

"  No,  I  should  think  not."     And  he  led  her  out  swiftly. 

I  heard  Mrs.  Somers  say  at  breakfast,  as  I  went  in,  "  We 
are  to  lose  Miss  Cassandra  on  Wednesday."  I  looked  at 
Desmond,  who  was  munching  toast  abstractedly.  He  made 
a  motion  for  me  to  take  the  chair  beside  him,  which  I 
obeyed.  Ben  saw  this  movement,  and  an  expression  of 
pain  passed  over  his  face.  At  that  instant  I  remembered 
that  Desmond's  being  seen  in  the  evening  and  in  the  morn 
ing  was  a  rare  occurrence.  Mr.  Somers  took  up  the  remark 
of  Mrs.  Somers  where  she  had  left  it,  and  expatiated  on  it 
till  breakfast  was  over,  so  courteously  and  so  ramblingly 
that  I  was  convinced  the  affair  Ben  had  at  heart  had  been 
revealed.  He  invited  me  to  go  to  church,  and  he  spent  the 
whole  of  the  evening  in  the  parlor  ;  and  although  Desmond 
hovered  near  me  all  day  and  all  the  evening,  we  had  no 
opportunity  of  speaking  to  each  other. 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

ON  Tuesday  morning  Adelaide  sent  out  invitations  to  a 
farewell  entertainment,  as  she  called  it,  for  Tuesday 
evening.  Mrs.  Somers,  affecting  great  interest  in  it, 
engaged  my  services  in  wiping  the  dust  from  glass  and 
china  ;  "  too  valuable,"  she  said,  "  for  servants  to  handle." 
We  spent  a  part  of  the  morning  in  the  dining-room  and 
pantry.  Ann  was  with  us.  If  she  went  out,  Mrs.  Somers 
was  silent ;  when  present  she  chatted.  While  we  were  busy 
Desmond  came  in,  in  riding  trousers  and  whip  in  hand. 

"  What  nonsense  !  "  he  said,  touching  my  hand  with  the 
whiplash.  "  Will  you  ride  with  me  after  dinner?  " 

"  I  must  have  the  horses  at  three  o'clock,"  said  his 
mother,  "to  go  to  Mrs.  Flint's  funeral.  She  was  a  family 
friend,  you  know."  The  funeral  could  not  be  postponed, 
even  for  Desmond  ;  but  he  grew  ill-humored  at  once,  swore 
at  Murphy,  who  was  packing  a  waiter  at  the  sideboard,  for 


THE  MORGESONS.  207 

rattling  the  plates  ;  called  Ann  a  minx,  because  she  laughed 
at  him  ;  and  bit  a  cigar  to  pieces  because  he  could  not  light 
it.  Rash  had  followed  him,  his  nose  against  his  velveteens, 
in  entreaty  to  go  with  him  ;  I  was  pleased  at  this  sign  of 
amity  between  them.  At  a  harder  push  than  common  he 
looked  down  and  kicked  him  away. 

"  Noble  creature,"  I  said,  "  try  your  whip  on  him.  Rash, 
go  to  your  master,"  and  I  opened  the  door.  Two  smaller 
dogs,  Desmond's  property,  made  a  rush  to  come  in  ;  but  I 
shut  them  out,  whereat  they  whined  so  loudly  that  Mrs. 
Somers  was  provoked  to  attack  him  for  bringing  his  dogs 
in  the  house.  An  altercation  took  place,  and  was  ended  by 
Desmond  declaring  that  he  was  on  his  way  after  a  bitch 
terrier,  to  bring  it  home.  He  went  out,  giving  me  a  look 
from  the  door,  which  I  answered  with  a  smile  that  made 
him  stamp  all  the  way  through  the  hall.  Mrs.  Somers's 
feelings  as  she  heard  him  peeped  out  at  me.  Groaning  in 
spirit,  I  finished  my  last  saucer  and  betook  myself  to  my 
room  and  read,  till  summoned  by  Mrs.  Somers  to  a  con 
sultation  respecting  the  furniture  coverings.  Desmond 
came  home,  but  spoke  to  no  one,  hovering  in  my  vicinity  as 
on  the  day  before. 

In  the  afternoon  Adelaide  and  I  went  in  the  carriage  to 
make  calls  upon  those  we  did  not  expect  to  see  in  the  even 
ing.  She  wrote  P.P.C.  on  my  cards  and  laughed  at  the 
idea  of  paying  farewell  visits  to  strangers.  The  last  one 
was  made  to  Mrs.  Hepburn.  A  soft  melancholy  crept  over 
me  when  I  entered  the  room  where  I  had  met  Desmond 
last.  We  should  probably  not  see  each  other  alone  again. 
Mrs.  Somers's  policy  to  that  effect  would  be  a  success,  for 
I  should  make  no  opposition  to  it.  Not  a  word  of  my  feel 
ings  could  I  speak  to  Mrs.  Hepburn — Adelaide  was  there — 
provided  I  had  the  impulse ;  and  Mrs.  Hepburn  would  be 
the  last  to  forgive  me  should  I  make  the  conventional  mis 
take  of  a  scene  or  an  aside.  This  old  lady  had  taught  me 
something.  I  went  to  the  window,  curious  to  know  whether 
any  nerve  of  association  would  vibrate  again.  Nothing 
stirred  me  ;  the  machinery  which  had  agitated  and  con 
trolled  me  was  effete. 

Mrs.  Hepburn  said,  as  we  were  taking  leave  : 

"  If  you  come  to  Belem  next  year,  and  I  am  above  the 
sod,  I  invite  you  to  pass  a  month  with  me.  But  let  it  be  in 


208  THE  MORGESONS. 

the  summer.  I  ride  then,  and  should  like  you  for  a  com 
panion." 

She  might  have  seen  irresolution  in  me,  for  she  added 
quickly,  "You  need  not  promise — let  time  decide,"  and 
shook  my  hands  kindly. 

"  Hep.  is  smitten  with  you,  in  her  selfish  way,"  Adelaide 
remarked,  as  we  rode  from  the  door.  She  ordered  the 
coachman  to  drive  home  by  the  "  Leslie  House,"  which  she 
wanted  me  to  see.  A  great  aunt  had  lived  and  died  there, 
leaving  the  house — one  of  the  oldest  in  Belem — to  her 
brother  Ned. 

"Who  is  he  like?" 

"Desmond;  but  worse.  There's  only  a  year's  difference 
in  their  ages.  They  were  educated  together,  kept  in  the 
nursery  till  they  were  great  boys  and  tyrants,  and  then  sent 
abroad.  They  were  in  Amiens  three  years." 

"  There  are  Desmond  and  Ben  ;  they  are  walking  in  the 
street  we  are  passing." 

She  looked  out. 

"  They  are  quarreling,  I  dare  say.  Ben  is  a  prig,  and 
preaches  to  Des." 

While  we  were  in  the  house,  and  Adelaide  talked  with 
the  old  servant  of  her  aunt,  my  thoughts  were  occupied 
with  Desmond.  What  had  they  quarreled  on  ?  Desmond 
was  pale,  and  laughed  ;  but  Ben  was  red,  and  looked 
angry. 

"  Why  do  you  look  at  me  so  fixedly  ?  "  Adelaide  asked, 
when  we  were  in  the  carriage  again. 

It  was  on  my  tongue  to  say,  "  Because  I  am  beset."  I 
did  not,  however  ;  instead  I  asked  her  if  she  never  noticed 
what  a  rigid  look  people  wore  in  their  best  bonnets,  and 
holding  a  card-case  ?  She  said,  "  Yes,"  and  shook  out  her 
handkerchief,  as  if  to  correct  her  own  rigidity. 

After  an  early  tea  she  compelled  me  to  sing,  and  we 
delayed  dressing  till  Mrs..  Somers  bloomed  in,  with  purple 
satin  and  feather  head-dress. 

"  Now  we  must  go,"  she  said,  "  and  get  ready." 

"  What  shall  you  wear  ?"  Mrs.  Somers  asked,  advising  a 
certain  ugly,  claret-colored  silk. 

"  Be  sure  not,"  said  Adelaide  on  the  stairs.  "  That  dress 
makes  your  hair  too  yellow." 

I  heard  loud  laughing  in  the  third  story,  and  heavy  steps, 


THE  MORGESONS.  209 

while  I  was  in  my  room  ;  and  when  I  went  down,  I  saw 
two  gentlemen  in  evening  dress,  standing  by  Desmond,  at 
the  piano,  and  singing,  "  fill,  fill  the  sparkling  brimmer." 
They  were,  as  Ann  informed  me,  college  friends  of  Des, 
who  had  arrived  for  a  few  days'  visit,  she  supposed  ;  dis 
agreeable  persons,  of  course.  They  were  often  in  Belem 
to  ride,  fish,  or  play  billiards.  "  Pa  hates  them,"  she  said 
in  conclusion.  Mr.  Somers  entering  at  this  moment,  in  his 
diplomatique  style,  his  gouty  white  hands  shaded  with 
wristbands,  and  his  throat  tied  with  a  white  cravat,  appeared 
to  contradict  her  assertion,  he  was  so  affable  in  his  saluta 
tions  to  the  young  men.  Desmond  turned  from  the  piano 
when  he  heard  his  father's  voice,  and  caught  sight  of  me. 
He  started  toward  me  ;  but  his  attention  was  claimed  by 
one  of  the  gentlemen,  who  had  been  giving  me  a  prolonged 
stare,  and  he  dropped  back  on  his  seat,  with  an  indifferent 
air,  answering  some  question  relating  to  myself.  He  looked 
as  when  I  first  saw  him — flushed,  haughty,  and  bored. 
His  hair  and  dress  were  disordered,  his  boots  splashed  with 
mud  ;  and  it  was  evident  that  he  did  not  intend  to  appear 
at  the  party. 

Adelaide  called  me  to  remain  by  her  ;  but  I  slipped  away 
when  I  thought  no  more  would  arrive,  and  sought  a  retired 
corner,  to  which  Mr.  Somers  brought  Desmond's  friends, 
introducing  them  as  the  sons  of  his  college  chums,  and 
leaving  them,  one  lolling  against  the  mantel,  the  other  over 
the  back  of  a  chair.  They  were  muzzy  with  drink,  and 
seemed  to  grow  warm,  as  I  looked  from  one  to  the  other, 
with  an  attentive  air. 

"  You  are  visiting  in  Belem,"  said  one. 

"That  is  true,"  I  replied. 

"  It  is  too  confoundedly  aristocratic  for  me  ;  it  knocks 
Beacon  Street  into  nothingness." 

"  Where  is  Beacon  Street  ? " 

"  Don't  you  know  that?     Nor  the  Mall  ?  " 

"  No." 

Our  conversation  was  interrupted  by  Ben,  whom  I  had 
not  seen  since  the  day  before.  He  had  been  out  of  town, 
transacting  some  business  for  his  father.  We  looked  at 
each  other  without  speaking,  but  divined  each  other's 
thoughts.  "  You  are  as  true  and  noble  as  I  think  you  are, 
Gassy.  I  must  have  it  so.  You  shall  not  thwart  me." 


210  THE  MORGESONS. 

"  Faithful  and  good  Ben, — do  you  pass  a  sufficiently  strict 
examination  upon  yourself?  Are  you  not  disposed  to  carry 
through  your  own  ideas  without  considering  me?  "  What 
ever  our  internal  comments  were,  we  smiled  upon  each 
other  with  the  sincerity  of  friendship,  and  I  detected  Mr. 
Digby  in  the  act  of  elevating  his  eyebrows  at  Mr.  Dever- 
eaux,  who  signified  his  opinion  by  telegraphing  back  :  "  It 
is  all  over  with  them." 

"  Hey,  Somers,"  said  the  first  ;  "  what  are  you  doing 
nowadays  ?" 

"  Pretty  much  the  same  work  that  I  always  have  on 
hand." 

"  Do  you  mean  to  stick  to  Belem  ? " 

"  No." 

"  I  thought  so.  But  what  has  come  over  Des.  lately  ? 
He  is  spoony." 

"  He  is  going  backward,  may  be,  to  some  course  he 
omitted  in  his  career  with  you  fellows.  We  must  run  the 
same  round  somehow,  you  know." 

"  He'll  not  find  much  reason  for  it,  when  he  arrives,"  Mr. 
Devereaux  said. 

Miss  Munster  joined  us,  with  the  intention  of  breaking 
up  our  conclave,  and  soon  moved  away,  with  Mr.  Digby 
and  Devereaux  in  her  train. 

"  I  have  changed  my  mind,"  said  Ben,  "  about  going 
home  with  you." 

"  Are  your  plans  growing  complicated  again  ? " 

"  Can  you  go  to  Surrey  alone  ? " 

"  Why  not,  pray  ?  " 

"  I  have  an  idea  of  going  to  Switzerland  to  spend  the 
summer.  Will  Veronica  be  ready  in  the  autumn  ?  " 

"  How  can  I  answer  ?  Shall  you  not  take  leave  of 
her?" 

"Perhaps.  Yes, — I  must,"  he  said  excitedly;  "but  to 
morrow  we  will  talk  more  about  it.  I  shall  go  to  Boston 
with  you  ;  pa  is  going  too.  How  well  you  look  to-night, 
Gassy  !  What  sort  of  dress  is  this  ?"  taking  up  a  fold  of  it. 
"  Is  it  cotton-silk,  or  silk-cotton  ?  It  is  soft  and  light. 
How  delicate  you  are,  with  your  gold  hair  and  morning- 
glory  eyes  !  " 

"  How  poetical  !  My  dress  is  new,  and  was  made  by 
Adelaide's  dressmaker." 


THE  MORGESONS.  21 1 

"  Mother  beckons  me.  What  a  headdress  that  is  of 
hers  !  " 

"  What  beckons  you  to  go  to  Switzerland  ?  "  I  mused. 

I  listened  for  Desmond's  voice,  which  would  have 
sounded  like  a  silver  bell,  in  the  loud,  coarse  buzz  which 
pervaded  the  rooms.  All  the  women  were  talking  shrill, 
and  the  men  answering  in  falsetto.  He  was  not  among 
them,  and  I  moved  to  and  fro  unnoticed,  for  the  tide  of 
entertainment  had  set  in,  and  I  could  withdraw,  if  I  chose. 
I  took  a  chair  near  an  open  door,  commanded  a  view  into 
a  small  room,  on  the  other  side  of  the  hall,  opened  only  on 
occasions  like  these  ;  there  was  no  one  in  it.  Perceiving 
that  my  shoelace  was  untied,  I  stooped  to  refasten  it,  and 
when  I  looked  in  the  room  again  saw  Desmond  standing 
under  the  chandelier,  his  hands  in  his  pockets,  his  eyes  on 
the  floor,  his  hair  disordered  and  falling  over  his  forehead  ; 
its  blackness  was  intense  against  the  relief  of  the  crimson 
wall-paper.  Was  it  that  which  had  unaccountably  changed 
his  appearance  ? 

He  raised  his  head,  looked  across  the  hall,  and  saw  me. 

"  Come  here,"  he  signaled.  I  rose  like  an  automaton, 
and  cast  an  involuntary  glance  about  me  ;  the  guests  were 
filing  through  the  drawing-room,  into  the  room  where 
refreshments  were  laid.  When  the  last  had  gone,  I  left  the 
friendly  protection  of  the  niche  by  the  fire-place,  and  stood 
so  near  him  that  I  saw  his  nostrils  quiver !  Then  there 
came  into  his  face  an  expression  of  pain,  which  softened 
it.  I  had  wished  him  to  please  me ;  now  I  wished  to 
please  him.  It  seemed  that  he  had  no  intention  of 
speaking,  and  that  he  had  called  me  to  him  to  witness  a 
struggle  which  I  must  find  a  key  to  hereafter,  in  the  depths 
of  my  own  heart.  I  watched  him  in  silence,  and  it  passed. 
As  he  pushed  the  door  to  with  his  foot,  the  movement 
caused  something  to  swing  and  glitter  against  his  breast — 
a  ring  on  his  watch-ribbon  smaller  than  I  could  wear,  a 
woman's  ruby  ring.  The  small,  feminine  imp,  who  abides 
with  those  who  have  beams  in  their  eyes,  and  helps  them  to 
extract  motes  from  the  eyes  of  others,  inspired  me.  I 
pointed  to  the  ring.  Dropping  his  eyes,  he  said  :  "I  loved 
her  shamefully,  and  she  loved  me  shamefully.  When  shall 
I  take  it  off — cursed  sign  ? "  And  he  snapped  it  with  his 
thumb  and  finger. 


212  THE  MORGESONS. 

I  grew  rigid  with  virtue. 

"  You  may  not  conjure  up  any  tragic  ideas  on  the  subject. 
She  is  no  outcast.  She  is  here  to-night  ;  if  there  was  ruin, 
it  was  mutual." 

"And  your  other  faults  ?" 

"  Ah  !  "  he  said,  with  a  terrible  accent,  "  we  shall  see." 

There  was  a  tap  on  the  door  ;  it  was  Ben's.  I  fell  back 
a  step,  and  he  came  in.  "  Will  you  bring  Cassandra  to  the 
supper-room?  "  he  said,  turning  pale. 

"  No." 

"  Come  with  me,  then  ;  you  must."  And  he  put  my  arm 
in  his. 

"  Hail,  and  farewell,  Cassandra  ! "  said  Desmond,  stand 
ing  before  the  door.  "  Give  me  your  hand." 

I  gave  him  both  my  hands.  He  kissed  one,  and  then 
the  other,  and  moved  to  let  us  pass  out.  But  Ben  did  not 
go  ;  he  fumbled  for  his  handkerchief  to  wipe  his  forehead, 
on  which  stood  beads  of  sweat. 

"Allans,  Ben,"  I  said. 

"Go  on,  go  on,"  said  Desmond,  holding  the  door  wide 
open. 

A  painful  curiosity  made  me  anxious  to  discover  the 
owner  of  the  ruby  ring  !  The  friendly  but  narrow-minded 
imp  I  have  spoken  of  composed  speeches,  with  which  I 
might  assail  her,  should  she  be  found.  I  looked  in  vain  at 
every  women  present  ;  there  was  not  a  sorrowful  or  guilty 
face  among  them.  Another  feeling  took  the  place  of  my 
curiosity.  I  forgot  the  woman  I  was  seeking,  to  remember 
the  love  I  bore  Desmond.  I  was  mad  for  the  sight  of  him — 
mad  to  touch  his  hand  once  more.  I  could  have  put  the 
asp  on  my  breast  to  suck  me  to  sleep,  as  Cleopatra  did  ; 
but  Ccesar  was  in  the  way.  He  stayed  by  me  till  the  lights 
were  turned  down. 

Digby  and  Devereaux  were  commenting  on  Desmond's 
disappearance,  and  Mrs.  Somers  was  politely  yawning, 
waiting  their  call  for  candles. 

"  If  you  are  to  accompany  me,  Ben,"  I  said,  "  now  is  the 
time."  And  he  slipped  out.  He  preserved  a  determined 
silence.  I  shook  him,  and  said — "  Veronica."  He  put  his 
hand  over  my  mouth  with  an  indignant  look,  which  was 
lost  upon  me,  for  I  whispered  in  his  ear  :  "  Do  you  know 
now  that  I  love  Desmond  ?  " 


THE  MORGESONS.  213 

"  Will  you  bring  him  into  our  Paradise  ? " 

"  Where  ? " 

"  Our  home,  in  Surrey." 

"  Wont  an  angel  with  a  flaming  sword  make  it  piquant?" 

"  If  you  marry  Desmond  Somers,"  he  said  austerely, 
"you  will  contradict  three  lives, — yours,  mine,  and  Veron 
ica's.  What  beast  was  it  that  suggested  this  horrible  dis 
cord  ?  Have  you  so  much  passion  that  you  cannot  discern 
the  future  you  offer  yourself  ?  " 

"  Imperator,  you  have  an  agreeable  way  of  putting 
things.  But  they  are  coming  through  the  hall.  Good 
night." 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

AT  eleven  o'clock  the  next  day  I  was  ready  for  departure. 
All  stood  by  the  open  hall  door,  criticising  Murphy's 
strapping  of  my  trunks  on  a  hack.  Messrs.  Digby  and 
Devereaux,  in  black  satin  scarfs,  hung  over  the  step  rail 
ings  ;  Mrs.  Somers,  Adelaide,  and  Ann  were  within  the 
door.  Mr.  Somers  and  Ben  were  already  on  the  walk,  wait 
ing  for  me  ;  so  I  went  through  the  ceremony  of  bidding 
good-by — a  ceremony  performed  with  so  much  cheerfulness 
on  all  sides  that  it  was  an  occasion  for  well-bred  merriment, 
and  I  made  my  exit  as  I  should  have  made  it  in  a  genteel 
comedy,  but  with  a  bitter  feeling  of  mortification,  because 
of  their  artificial,  willful  imperturbability  I  was  forced  to 
oppose  them  with  manners  copied  after  their  own. 

I  looked  from  the  carriage  window  for  a  last  view  of  my 
room.  The  chambermaid  was  already  there,  and  had 
thrown  open  the  shutters,  to  let  in  daylight  upon  the  scene 
of  the  most  royal  dreams  I  had  ever  had.  The  ghost  of  my 
individuality  would  lurk  there  no  longer  than  the  chairs  I 
had  placed,  the  books  I  had  left,  the  shreds  of  paper  or 
flowers  I  had  scattered,  could  be  moved  or  swept  away. 

All  the  way  to  Boston  the  transition  to  my  old  condition 
oppressed  me.  I  felt  a  dreary  disgust  at  the  necessity  of 
resuming  relations  which  had  no  connection  with  the  senti 
ment  that  bound  me  to  Belem.  After  we  were  settled  at 
the  Tremont,  while  watching  a  sad  waiter  engaged  in  the 
ceremonial  of  folding  napkins  like  fans,  I  discovered  an  in- 


214  THE  MORGESONS. 

termediate  tone  of  mind,  which  gave  my  thoughts  a  pictur 
esque  tinge.  My  romance,  its  regrets,  and  its  pleasures, 
should  be  set  in  the  frame  of  the  wild  sea  and  shores  of 
Surrey.  I  invested  our  isolated  house  with  the  dignity  of 
a  stage,  where  the  drama,  which  my  thoughts  must  continu 
ally  represent,  could  go  on  without  interruption,  and  remain 
a  secret  I  should  have  no  temptation  to  reveal.  Until  after 
the  tedious  dinner,  a  complete  rainbow  of  dreams  spanned 
the  arc  of  my  brain.  Mr.  Somers  dispersed  it  by  asking 
Ben  to  go  out  on  some  errand.  That  it  was  a  pretext,  I 
knew  by  Ben's  expression  ;  therefore,  when  he  had  gone  I 
turned  to  Mr.  Somers  an  attentive  face.  First,  he  circum- 
locuted  ;  second,  he  skirmished.  I  still  waited  for  what  he 
wished  to  say,  without  giving  him  any  aid.  He  was  sure, 
he  said  at  last,  that  my  visit  in  his  family  had  convinced 
me  that  his  children  could  not  vary  the  destiny  imposed 
upon  them  by  their  antecedents,  without  bringing  upon 
others  lamentable  consequences.  "  Cunning  pa,"  I  com 
mented  internally.  Had  I  not  seen  the  misery  of  unequal 
marriages  ? 

"  As  in  a  glass,  darkly." 

Doubtless,  he  went  on,  I  had  comprehended  the  erratic 
tendency  in  Bens  character,  good  and  honorable  as  he  was, 
but  impressive  and  visionary.  Did  I  think  so  ? 

"  Quite  the  contrary.  Have  you  never  perceived  the 
method  of  his  visions  in  an  unvarying  opposition  to  those 
antecedents  you  boast  of  ?  " 

"  Well,  well,  well  ? " 

"  Money,  Family,  Influence, — are  a  ding-dong  bell  which 
you  must  weary  of,  Mr.  Somers — sometimes." 

"  Ben  has  disappointed  me  ;  I  must  confess  that." 

"  My  sister  is  eccentric.  Provided  she  marries  him,  the 
family  programme  will  be  changed.  You  must  lop  him  from 
the  family  tree." 

He  took  up  a  paper,  bowed  to  me  with  an  unvexed  air, 
and  read  a  column  or  so. 

"  It  may  be  absurd,"  and  he  looked  over  his  spectacle 
tops,  as  if  he  had  found  the  remark  in  his  paper,  "  for  pa 
rents  to  oppose  the  marriages  their  children  choose  to  make, 
and  I  beg  you  to  understand  that  I  may  oppose,  not  resist 
Ben.  You  know  very  well,"  and  he  dropped  the  paper  in 
a  burst  of  irritation  and  candor,  "  that  the  devil  will  be  to 


THE  MORGESONS.  215 

pay  with  Mrs.  Soraers,  who  has  a  right  of  dictation  in  the 
affair.  She  does  not  suspect  it.  I  must  say  that  Ben  is 
mistaking  himself  again.  I  mean,  I  think  so." 

I  looked  upon  him  with  a  more  friendly  countenance. 
The  one  rude  word  he  had  spoken  had  a  wonderful  effect, 
after  the  surprise  of  it  was  over.  Real  eyes  appeared  in  his 
face,  and  a  truthful  accent  pervaded  his  voice.  I  think  he 
was  beginning  to  think  that  h'e  might  confide  his  perplexi 
ties  to  me  on  other  subjects,  when  Ben  returned.  As  it  was, 
a  friendly  feeling  had  been  established  between  us.  He  said 
in  a  confidential  tone  to  Ben,  as  if  we  were  partners  in  some 
guilty  secret,  "  You  must  mention  it  to  your  mother ;  indeed 
you  must." 

"You  have  been  speaking  with  Cassandra,  in  reference 
to  her  sister,"  he  answered  indifferently.  Mr.  Somers  was 
chilled  in  his  attempt  at  a  mutual  confidence. 

"  Can  you  raise  money,  if  Desmond  should  marry  ?  " 
asked  Ben.  "  Enough  for  both  of  us  ? " 

"  Desmond  ?  he  will  never  marry." 

"  It  is  certainly  possible." 

"  You  know  how  I  am  clogged." 

I  rang  for  some  ice-water,  and  when  the  waiter  brought 
it,  said  that  it  was  time  to  retire. 

"  Now,"  said  Mr.  Somers,  "  I  shall  give  you  just  such  a 
breakfast  as  will  enable  you  to  travel  well — a  beefsteak,  and 
old  bread  made  into  toast.  Don't  drink  that  ice-water ; 
take  some  wine." 

I  set  the  glass  of  ice-water  down,  and  declined  the  wine. 
Ben  elevated  his  eyebrows,  and  asked  : 

"  What  time  shall  I  get  up,  sir  ?  " 

"  I  will  call  you  ;  so  you  may  sleep  untroubled." 

He  opened  the  door,  and  bade  me  an  affectionate  good" 
night. 

"  The  coach  is  ready,"  a  waiter  announced,  as  we  fin 
ished  our  breakfast.  "  We  are  ready,"  said  Mr.  Somers. 
"  I  have  ordered  a  packet  of  sandwiches  for  you — beef,  not 
ham  sandwiches — and  here  is  a  flask  of  wine  mixed  with 
water." 

I  thanked  him,  and  tied  my  bonnet. 

"  Here  is  a  note,  also,"  opening  his  pocketbook  and  ex 
tracting  it,  "  for  your  father.  It  contains  our  apologies  for 
not  accompanying  you,  and  one  or  two  allusions,"  making 


216  THE  MORGESONS. 

an  attempt  to  wink  at  Ben,  which  failed,  his  eyes  being  un 
used  to  such  an  undignified  style  of  humor. 

He  excused  himself  from  going  to  the  station  on  account 
of  the  morning  air,  and  Ben  and  I  proceeded.  In  the  pas 
sage,  .the  waiter  met  us  with  a  paper  box.  "  For  you,  Miss. 
A  florist's  boy  just  left  it."  I  opened  it  in  the  coach,  and 
seeing  flowers,  was  about  to  take  them  out  to  show  Ben, 
when  I  caught  sight  of  the  ribbon  which  tied  them — a  piece 
of  one  of  my  collar  knots  I  had  not  missed.  Of  course  the 
flowers  came  from  Desmond,  and  half  the  ribbon  was  in  his 
possession  ;  the  ends  were  jagged,  as  if  it  had  been  divided 
with  a  knife.  Instead  of  taking  out  the  flowers,  I  showed 
him  the  box. 

"  What  a  curious  bouquet,"  he  said. 

In  the  cars  he  put  into  my  hand  a  jewel  box,  and  a  thick 
letter  for  Verry,  kissed  me,  and  was  out  of  sight. 

"  No  vestige  but  these  flowers,"  uncovering  them  again. 
"  In  my  room  at  Surrey  I  will  take  you  out,"  and  I  shut  the 
box.  The  clanking  of  the  car  wheels  revolved  through  my 
head  in  rhythm,  excluding  thought  for  miles.  Then  I 
looked  out  at  the  flying  sky — it  was  almost  May.  The  day 
was  mild  and  fair  ;  in  the  hollows,  the  young  grass  spread 
over  the  earth  like  a  smooth  cloth  ;  over  the  hills  and  un 
sheltered  fields,  the  old  grass  lay  like  coarse  mats.  A  few 
birds  roved  the  air  in  anxiety,  for  the  time  of  love  was  at 
hand,  and  their  nests  were  not  finished.  By  twelve  I  ar 
rived  at  the  town  where  the  railroad  branched  in  a  direction 
opposite  the  road  to  Surrey,  and  where  a  stage  was  waiting 
for  its  complement  of  passengers  from  the  cars.  I  was  the 
only  lady  "  aboard,"  as  one  of  the  passengers  intelligently 
remarked,  when  we  started.  They  were  desirable  compan 
ions,  for  they  were  gruff  to  each  other  and  silent  to  me. 
We  rode  several  miles  in  a  state  of  unadjustment,  and 
then  yielded  to  the  sedative  qualities  of  a  stagecoach. 
I  lunched  on  my  sandwiches,  thanking  Mr.  Somers  for  his 
forethought,  though  I  should  have  preferred  them  of  ham, 
instead  of  beef.  When  I  took  a  sip  from  my  flask,  two  men 
looked  surprised,  and  spat  vehemently  out  of  the  windows. 
I  offered  it  to  them.  They  refused  it,  saying  they  had  had 
what  was  needful  at  the  Depot  Saloon,  conducted  on  the 
strictest  temperance  principles. 

"  Those    principles  are   cruel,   provided   travelers   ever 


THE  MORGESONS.  2lJ 

have  colic,  or  an  aversion  to  Depot  tea  and  coffee,"  I 
said. 

There  was  silence  for  the  space  of  fifteen  minutes,  then 
one  of  them  turned  and  said  :  "  You  have  a  good  head, 
marm." 

"  Too  good  ? " 

"  Forgetful,  may  be." 

I  bowed,  not  wishing  to  prolong  the  conversation. 

"Your  circulation  is  too  rapid,"  he  continued. 

The  man  on  the  seat  with  him  now  turned  round,  and, 
examining  me,  informed  me  that  electricity  would  be  first- 
rate  for  me. 

"  Shoo  !"  he  replied,  "it's  a  humbug." 

I  was  forgotten  in  the  discussion  which  followed,  and 
which  lasted  till  our  arrival  at  a  village,  where  one  of  them 
resided.  He  left,  telling  us  he  was  a  "  natral  bone-setter." 
One  by  one  the  passengers  left  the  stage,  and  for  the  last 
five  miles  I  was  alone.  I  beguiled  the  time  by  elaborating 
a  multitude  of  trivial  opinions,  suggested  by  objects  I  saw 
along  the  roadside,  till  the  old  and  new  church  spires  of 
Surrey  came  in  sight,  and  the  curving  lines  at  either  end 
of  the  ascending  shores.  We  reached  the  point  in  the  north 
road,  where  the  ground  began  its  descent  to  the  sea,  and  I 
hung  from  the  window,  to  see  all  the  village  roofs  humble 
before  it.  The  streets  and  dwellings  looked  as  insignificant 
as  those  of  a  toy  village.  I  perceived  no  movement  in  it, 
heard  no  hum  of  life.  At  a  cross-road,  which  would  take 
the  stage  into  the  village  without  its  passing  our  house,  a 
whim  possessed  me.  I  would  surprise  them  at  home,  and 
go  in  at  the  back  door,  while  they  were  expecting  to  hear 
the  stage.  The  driver  let  me  out,  and  I  stood  in  the  road 
till  he  was  out  of  sight. 

A  breeze  blew  round  me,  penetrating,  but  silent  ;  the 
fields,  and  the  distant  houses  which  dotted  them,  were 
asleep  in  the  pale  sunshine,  undisturbed  by  it.  The  crows 
cawed,  and  flew  over  the  eastern  woods.  I  walked  slowly. 
The  road  was  deserted.  Mrs.  Grossman's  house  was  the 
only  one  I  must  pass  ;  its  shutters  were  closed,  and  the 
yard  was  empty.  As  I  drew  near  home  a  violent  haste 
grew  upon  me,  yet  my  feet  seemed  to  impede  my  progress. 
They  were  like  lead  ;  I  impelled  myself  along,  as  in  a  dream. 
Under  the  protection  of  our  orchard  wall  I  turned  my 


2l8  THE   MORGESONS. 

merino  mantle,  which  was  lined  with  an  indefinite  color, 
spread  my  veil  over  my  bonnet,  and  bent  my  shoulders,  and 
passed  down  the  carriage-drive,  by  the  dining-room  win- 
dows,  into  the  stable-yard.  The  rays  of  sunset  struck  the 
lantern-panes  in  the  light-house,  and  gave  the  atmosphere 
a  yellow  stain.  The  pigeons  were  skimming  up  and  down 
the  roof  of  the  wood-house,  and  cooing  round  the  horses 
that  were  in  the  yard.  A  boy  was  driving  cows  into  the  shed, 
whistling  a  lively  air  ;  he  suspended  it  when  he  saw  me,  but 
I  shook  my  finger  at  him,  and  ran  in.  Slipping  into  the 
side  hall,  I  dropped  my  bonnet  and  shawl,  and  listened  at 
the  door  for  the  familiar  voices.  Mother  must  be  there,  as 
was  her  wont,  and  Aunt  Merce.  All  of  them,  perhaps,  for 
I  had  seen  nobody  on  my  way.  There  was  no  talking 
within.  The  last  sunset  ray  struck  on  my  hand  its  yellow 
shade,  through  the  fan-light,  and  faded  before  I  opened  the 
door.  I  was  arrested  on  the  threshold  by  a  silence  which 
rushed  upon  me,  clutching  me  in  a  suffocating  embrace. 
Mother  was  in  her  chair  by  the  fire,  which  was  out,  for  the 
brands  were  black,  and  one  had  fallen  close  to  her  feet. 
A  white  flannel  shawl  covered  her  shoulders  ;  her  chin 
rested  on  her  breast.  "  She  is  ill,  and  has  dropped  asleep," 
I  thought,  thrusting  my  hands  out,  through  this  terrible 
silence,  to  break  her  slumber,  and  looked  at  the  clock  ;  it 
was  near  seven.  A  door  slammed,  somewhere  upstairs,  so 
loud  it  made  me  jump  ;  but  she  did  not  wake.  I  went  to 
ward  her,  confused,  and  stumbling  against  the  table,  which 
was  between  us,  but  reached  her  at  last.  Oh,  I  knew  it ! 
She  was  dead  !  People  must  die,  even  in  their  chairs,  alone  ! 
What  difference  did  it  make,  how  ?  An  empty  cup  was  in 
her  lap,  bottom  up  ;  I  set  it  carefully  on  the  mantel  shelf 
above  her  head.  Her  handkerchief  was  crumpled  in  her 
nerveless  hand  ;  I  drew  it  away  and  thrust  it  into  my 
bosom.  My  gloves  tightened  my  hands  as  I  tried  to  pull 
them  off,  and  was  tugging  at  them,  when  a  door  opened, 
and  Veronica  came  in. 

"  She  is  dead,"  I  said.  "  I  can't  get  them  off." 
"  It  is  false  "  ;  and  she  staggered  backward,  with  her 
hand  on  her  heart,  till  she  fell  against  the  wall.  I  do  not 
know  how  long  we  remained  so,  but  I  became  aware  of  a 
great  confusion — cries,  and  exclamations  ;  people  were  run 
ning  in  and  out.  Fanny  rolled  on  the  floor  in  hysterics. 


THE  MORGESONS.  219 

"  Get  up,"  I  said.  "I  can't  move  ;  help  me.  Where  did 
Verry  go  ?" 

She  got  up,  and  pulled  me  along.  I  saw  father  raise 
mother  in  his  arms.  The  dreadful  sight  of  her  swaying 
arms  and  drooping  head  made  me  lose  my  breath ;  but 
Veronica  forced  me  to  endurance  by  clinging  to  me,  and 
dragging  me  out  of  the  room  and  upstairs.  She  turned  the 
key  of  the  glass-door  at  the  head  of  the  passage,  not  letting 
go  of  me.  I  took  her  by  the  arms,  placed  her  in  a  chair, 
and  closing  my  window  curtains,  sat  down  beside  her  in 
the  dark. 

"  Where  will  they  carry  her  ? "  she  asked,  shuddering, 
and  putting  her  fingers  in  her  ears.  "  How  the  water 
splashes  on  the  beach  !  Is  the  tide  coming  in  ? " 

She  was  appalled  by  the  physical  horror  of  death,  and 
asked  me  incessant  questions. 

"  Let  us  keep  her  away  from  the  grave,"  she  said. 

I  could  not  answer,  or  hear  her  at  last,  for  sleep  over 
powered  me.  I  struggled  against  it  in  vain.  It  seemed 
the  greatest  good  ;  let  death  and  judgment  come,  I  must 
sleep.  I  threw  myself  on  my  bed,  and  the  touch  of  the 
pillow  sealed  my  eyes.  I  started  from  a  dream  about  some 
thing  that  happened  when  I  was  a  little  child.  "  Veronica, 
are  you  here  ?  " 

"  Mother  is  dead,"  she  answered. 

A  mighty  anguish  filled  my  breast.  Mother  ! — her  good 
ness  and  beauty,  her  pure  heart,  her  simplicity — I  felt  them 
all.  I  pitied  her  dead,  because  she  would  never  know 
how  I  valued  her.  Veronica  shed  no  tears,  but  sighed 
heavily.  Duty  sounded  through  her  sighs.  "  Verry,  shall 
/take  care  of  you  ?  I  think  I  can."  She  shook  her  head  ; 
but  presently  she  stretched  her  hands  in  search  of  my  face, 
kissed  it,  and  answered,  "  Perhaps." 

"  You  must  go  to  your  own  room  and  rest." 

"Can  you  keep  everybody  from  me  ?  " 

"  I  will  try." 

Opening  her  window,  she  looked  out  over  the  earth  wist 
fully,  and  at  the  sky,  thickly  strewn  with  stars,  which 
revealed  her  face.  We  heard  somebody  coming  up  the 
back  stairs. 

"  Temperance,"  said  Verry. 

"  Are  you  in  the  dark,  girls  ? "  she  asked,  wringing  her 


220  THE  MORGESONS. 

hands,  when  she  had  put  down  her  lamp.  "  What  an 
awful  Providence  !  "  She  looked  with  a  painful  anxiety 
at  Veronica. 

"  It  is  all  Providence,  Temperance,  whether  we  are  alive 
or  dead,"  I  said.  "  Let  us  let  Providence  alone." 

"  What  did  I  ever  leave  her  for  ?  She  wasn't  fit  to  take 
care  of  herself.  Why,  Cassandra  Morgeson,  you  haven't 
got  off  all  your  things  yet.  And  what's  this  sticking  out 
of  your  bosom  ?  " 

"  It  is  her  handkerchief."  I  kissed  it,  and  now  Verry 
began  to  weep  over  it,  begging  me  for  it.  I  gave  it  up 
to  her. 

"  It  will  kill  your  father." 

I  had  not  thought  of  him. 

"  It's  most  nine  o'clock.  Sofrony  Beals  is  here  ;  she  lays 
out  beautifully." 

"  No,  no  ;  don't  let  anybody  touch  her  !  "  shrieked 
Verry. 

"  No,  they  shan't.  Come  into  the  kitchen  ;  you  must 
have  something  to  eat." 

I  was  faint  from  the  want  of  food,  and  when  Temperance 
prepared  us  something  I  ate  heartily.  Veronica  drank  a 
little  milk,  but  would  taste  nothing.  Aunt  Merce,  who 
had  been  out  to  tea,  Temperance  said,  came  into  the 
kitchen. 

"  My  poor  girl,  I  have  not  seen  you,"  embracing  me,  half 
blind  with  crying,  "  How  pale  you  are  !  How  sunken  ! 
Keep  up  as  well  as  you  can.  I  little  thought  that  the 
worthless  one  of  us  two  would  be  left  to  suffer.  Go  to 
your  father,  as  soon  as  possible." 

"  Drink  this  tea  right  down,  Mercy,"  said  Temperance, 
holding  a  cup  before  her.  "  There  isn't  much  to  eat  in  the 
house.  Of  all  times  in  the  world  to  be  without  good 
victuals  !  What  could  Hepsey  have  meant  ?" 

"Poor  old  soul,"  Aunt  Merce  replied,  "she  is  quite 
broken.  Fanny  had  to  help  her  upstairs." 

The  kitchen  door  opened,  and  Temperance's  husband, 
Abram,  came  in. 

"  Good  Lord  ! "  she  said  in  an  irate  voice,  "  have  you 
come,  too  ?  Did  you  think  I  couldn't  get  home  to  get  your 
breakfast?" 

She  hung  the  kettle  on  the  fire  again,  muttering  too  low 


THE  MORGESONS.  221 

for  him  to  hear :  "  Some  folks  could  be  spared  better  than 
other  folks." 

Abram  shoved  back  his  hat.  " '  The  Lord  gives  and  the 
Lord  takes  away,'  but  she  is  a  dreadful  loss  to  the  poor. 
There's  my  poor  boy,  whose  clothes — " 

"  Aint  he  the  beatum  of  all  the  men  that  ever  you  see  ?  " 
broke  in  Temperance,  taking  to  him  a  large  piece  of  pie, 
which  he  took  with  a  short  laugh,  and  sat  down  to  eat.  I 
could  not  help  exchanging  a  look  with  Aunt  Merce ;  we 
both  laughed.  Veronica,  lost  in  revery,  paid  no  attention 
to  anything  about  her.  I  saw  that  Temperance  suffered  ; 
she  was  perplexed  and  irritated. 

"  Let  Abram  stay,  if  he  likes,"  I  whispered  to  her;  "  and 
be  sure  to  stay  yourself,  for  you  are  needed." 

She  brightened  with  an  expression  of  gratitude.  "  He  is 
a  nuisance,"  she  whispered  back  ;  "but  as  I  made  a  fool  of 
myself,  I  must  be  punished  according  to  my  folly.  "  I'll 
stay,  you  may  depend.  I'll  do  everything  for  you.  I  vow 
I  am  mad,  that  I  ever  went  away." 

"  Have  the  neighbors  gone  ?"  I  asked. 

"  There's  a  couple  or  so  round,  and  will  be,  you  know. 
I'll  take  Verry  to  bed,  and  sleep  on  the  floor  by  her.  You 
go  to  your  father." 

He  was  in  their  bedroom,  on  the  bed.  She  was  lying  on 
a  frame  of  wood,  covered  with  canvas,  a  kind  of  bed  which 
went  from  house  to  house  in  Surrey,  on  occasions  of  sick 
ness  or  death. 

"Our  last  night  together  has  passed,"  he  said  in  a 
tremulous  voice,  while  scanty  tears  fell  from  his  seared 
eyes.  "  The  space  between  then  and  now — when  her  arm 
was  round  me,  when  she  slept  beside  me,  when  I  woke  from 
a  bad  dream,  and  she  talked  gently  close  to  my  face,  till  I 
slept  again — is  so  narrow  that  I  recall  it  with  a  sense  of 
reality  which  agonizes  me ;  it  is  so  immeasurable  when  I 
see  her  there — there,  that  I  am  crushed." 

If  I  had  had  any  thought  of  speaking  to  him,  it  was 
gone.  And  I  must  go  too.  Were  the  hands  folded  across 
her  breast,  where  I,  also,  had  slept  ?  Were  the  blue  eyes 
closed  that  had  watched  me  there  ?  I  should  never  see. 
A  shroud  covered  her  from  all  eyes  but  his  now.  Till  I 
closed  the  door  upon  him,  I  looked  my  last  farewell.  An 
elderly  woman  met  me  as  I  was  going  upstairs,  and  offered 


222  THE  MORGESONS. 

me  a  small  packet ;  it  was  her  hair.  "  It  was  very  long," 
she  said.  I  tried  in  vain  to  thank  her.  "  I  will  place  it  in 
a  drawer  for  you,"  she  said  kindly. 


CHAPTER    XXXIV. 

'"PHE  house  was  thronged  till  after  the  funeral.  We  sat 
in  state,  to  be  condoled  with  and  waited  upon.  Not  a 
jot  of  the  customary  rites  was  abated,  though  I  am  sure 
the  performers  thereof  had  small  encouragement.  Veronica 
alone  would  see  no  one  ;  her  room  was  the  only  one  not 
invaded  ;  for  the  neighbors  took  the  house  into  their  hands, 
assisted  by  that  part  of  the  Morgesons  who  were  too  dis 
tantly  related  to  consider  themselves  as  mourners  to  be 
shut  up  with  us.  It  was  put  under  rigorous  funeral  law, 
and  inspected  from  garret  to  cellar.  They  supervised  all 
the  arrangements,  if  there  were  any  that  they  did  not  make, 
received  the  guests  who  came  from  a  distance,  and  aided 
their  departure.  Every  child  in  Surrey  was  allowed  to  come 
in,  to  look  at  the  dead,  with  the  idle  curiosity  of  childhood. 
Veronica  knew  nothing  of  this.  Her  course  was  taken  for 
granted  ;  mine  was  imposed  upon  me.  I  remonstrated  with 
Temperance,  but  she  replied  that  it  was  all  well  meant,  and 
always  done.  I  endured  the  same  annoyances  over  and 
over  again,  from  relays  of  people.  Bed-time  especially  was 
their  occasion.  I  was  not  allowed  to  undress  alone.  I 
must  have  drinks,  either  to  compose  or  stimulate  ;  I  must 
have  something  read  to  me ;  I  must  be  watched  when  I 
slept,  or  I  must  be  kept  awake  to  give  advice  or  be  told 
items  of  news.  All  the  while,  like  a  chorus,  they  reiterated 
the  character,  the  peculiarities,  the  virtues  of  the  mother  I 
had  lost,  who  could  never  be  replaced — who  was  in  a  better 
world.  However,  I  was,  in  a  measure,  kept  from  myself 
during  this  interval.  The  matter  is  often  subservient  to  the 
manner.  Arthur's  feelings  were  played  upon  also.  He 
wept  often,  confiding  to  me  his  grief  and  his  plans  for  the 
future.  "  If  people  would  die  at  the  age  of  seventy-five, 
things  would  go  well,"  he  said,  "  for  everybody  must  expect 
to  die  then  ;  the  Bible  says  so."  He  informed  me  also 
that  he  expected  to  be  an  architect,  and  that  mother  liked 


THE  MORGESONS.  223 

it.  He  had  an  idea,  which  he  had  imparted  to  her,  of  an 
arch  ;  it  must  be  made  of  black  marble,  with  gold  veins, 
and  ought  to  stand  in  Egypt,  with  the  word  "  Pandemo 
nium  "  on  it.  The  kitchen  was  the  focus  of  interest  to  him, 
for  meals  were  prepared  at  all  hours  for  comers  and  goers. 
Temperance  told  me  that  the  mild  and  indifferent  mourners 
were  fond  of  good  victuals,  and  she  thought  their  hearts 
were  lighter  than  their  stomachs  when  they  went  away. 
She  presided  there  and  wrangled  with  Fanny,  who  seemed 
to  have  lost  her  capacity  for  doing  anything  steadily,  except, 
as  Temperance  said,  where  father  was  concerned.  "  It's  a 
pity  she  isn't  his  dog  ;  she  might  keep  at  his  feet  then.  I 
found  her  crying  awfully  yesterday,  bacause  he  looked  so 
grief-struck." 

Aunt  Merce  was  engaged  with  a  dressmaker,  and  with 
the  orders  for  bonnets  and  veils.  She  discussed  the  subject 
of  the  mourning  with  the  Morgesons.  I  acquiesced  in  all 
her  arrangements,  for  she  derived  a  simple  comfort  from 
these  external  tokens.  Veronica  refused  to  wear  the  bon 
net  and  veil  and  the  required  bombazine.  Bombazine  made 
her  flesh  crawl.  Why  should  she  wear  it  ?  Mother  hated 
it,  too,  for  she  had  never  worn  out  the  garments  made  for 
Grand'ther  Warren. 

"She's  a  bigger  child  than  ever,"  Temperance  remarked, 
"  and  must  have  her  way." 

"  Do  you  think  the  border  on  my  cap  is  too  deep  ? " 
asked  Aunt  Merce,  coming  into  my  room  dressed  for  the 
funeral. 

"No." 

"  The  cap  came  from  Miss  Nye  in  Milford  ;  she  says 
they  wear  them  so.  I  could  have  made  it  myself  for  half 
the  price.  Shall  you  be  ready  soon  ?  I  am  going  to  put 
on  my  bonnet.  The  yard  is  full  of  carriages  already." 

Somebody  handed  me  gloves  ;  my  bonnet  was  tied,  a 
handkerchief  given  to  me,  and  the  door  opened.  In  the 
passage  I  heard  a  knocking  from  Veronica's  room,  and 
crossed  to  learn  what  she  wanted. 

"  Is  this  like  her  ?  "  she  asked,  showing  me  a  drawing. 

"  How  could  you  have  done  this  ?  " 

"  Because  I  have  tried.    Is  it  like  ? " 

"  Yes,  the  idea." 

But  what  a  picture  she  had  attempted  to  make !     Mother's 


224  THE  MORGESONS. 

shadowy  face  serenely  looked  from  a  high,  small  window, 
set  in  clouds,  like  those  which  gather  over  the  sun  when  it 
"  draws  water."  It  was  closely  pressed  to  the  glass,  and 
she  was  regarding  dark,  indefinite  creatures  below  it,  which 
Veronica  either  could  not  or  would  not  shape. 

"  Keep  it  ;  but  don't  work  on  it  any  more."  And  I 
put  it  away.  She  was  wan  and  languid,  but  collected. 

"  I  see  you  are  ready.  Somebody  must  bury  the  dead. 
Go.  Will  the  house  be  empty  ?  " 

"  Yes." 

"  Good  ;  I  can  walk  through  it  once  more." 

"  The  dead  must  be  buried,  that  is  certain  ;  but  why 
should  it  be  certain  that  /  must  be  the  one  to  do  it  ?  " 

"  You  think  I  can  go  through  with  it,  then  ?" 

"  I  have  set  your  behavior  down  to  your  will." 

"  You  may  be  right.  Perhaps  mother  was  always  right 
about  me  too  ;  she  was  against  me." 

She  looked  at  me  with  a  timidity  and  apprehension  that 
made  my  heart  bleed.  "  I  think  we  might  kiss  each  other 
now,"  she  said. 

I  opened  my  arms,  holding  her  against  my  breast  so 
tightly  that  she  drew  back,  but  kissed  my  cheek  gently,  and 
took  from  her  pocket  a  flagon  of  salts,  which  she  fastened 
to  my  belt  by  its  little  chain,  and  said  again,  "  Go,"  but  re 
calling  me,  said,  "  One  thing  more  ;  I  will  never  lose  temper 
with  you  again." 

The  landing-stair  was  full  of  people.  I  locked  the  door, 
and  took  out  the  key  ;  the  stairs  were  crowded.  All  made 
way  for  me  with  a  silent  respect.  Aunt  Merce,  when  she 
saw  me,  put  her  hand  on  an  empty  chair,  beside  father,  who 
sat  by  the  coffin.  Those  passages  in  the  Bible  which  con 
tain  the  beautifully  poetic  images  relating  to  the  going  of 
man  to  his  long  home  were  read,  and  to  my  ear  they  seemed 
to  fall  on  the  coffin  in  dull  strife  with  its  inmate,  who  mutely 
contradicted  them.  A  discourse  followed,  which  was  cal 
culated  to  harrow  the  feelings  to  the  utmost.  Arthur  began 
to  cry  so  nervously,  that  some  considerate  friend  took  him 
out,  and  Aunt  Merce  wept  so  violently  that  she  grew  faint, 
and  caught  hold  of  me.  I  gave  her  the  flagon  of  salts, 
which  revived  her  ;  but  I  felt  as  father  looked — stern,  and 
anxious  to  escape  the  unprofitable  trial. 

As  the    coffin  was  taken  out   to  the  hearse,  my  heart 


THE  MORGESOXS.  225 

twisted  and  palpitated,  as  if  a  command  had  been  laid  upon 
it  to  follow,  and  not  leave  her.  But  I  was  imprisoned  in 
the  cage  of  Life — the  Keeper  would  not  let  me  go  ;  her  he 
had  let  loose. 

We  were  still  obliged  to  sit  an  intolerable  while,  till  all 
present  had  passed  before  her  for  the  last  time.  When  the 
hearse  moved  down  the  street,  father,  Arthur,  and  I  were 
called,  and  assisted  in  our  own  chaise,  as  if  we  were  help 
less  ;  the  reins  were  put  in  father's  hands,  and  the  horse  was 
led  behind  the  hearse.  At  last  the  word  was  given,  and  the 
long  procession  began  to  move  through  the  street,  which  was 
deserted.  A  cat  ran  out  of  a  house,  and  scampered  across 
the  way  ;  Arthur  laughed,  and  father  jumped  nervously  at 
the  sound  of  his  laugh. 

The  graveyard  was  a  mile  outside  the  village — a  sandy 
plain  where  a  few  stunted  pines  transplanted  from  the 
woods  near  it  struggled  to  keep  alive.  As  we  turned  from 
the  street  into  the  lane  which  led  to  it,  and  rode  up  a  little 
hill  where  the  sand  was  so  deep  that  it  muffled  the  wheels 
and  feet  of  the  horses,  the  whole  round  of  the  gray  sky  was 
visible.  It  hung  low  over  us.  I  wished  it  to  drop  and  blot 
out  the  vague  nothings  under  it.  We  left  the  carriage  at 
the  palings  and  walked  up  the  narrow  path,  among  the 
mounds,  where  every  stone  was  marked  "  Morgeson." 
Some  so  old  that  they  were  stained  with  blotches  of  yellow 
moss,  slanting  backward  and  forward,  in  protest  against 
the  folly  of  indicating  what  was  no  longer  beneath  them. 
The  mounds  were  covered  with  mats  of  scanty,  tangled 
grass,  with  here  and  there  a  rank  spot  of  green.  I  was 
tracing  the  shape  of  one  of  those  green  patches  when  I 
felt  father's  arm  tremble.  I  shut  my  eyes,  but  could  not 
close  my  ears  to  the  sound  of  the  spadeful  of  sand  which 
fell  on  the  coffin. 

It  was  over.  We  must  leave  her  to  the  creatures  Veron 
ica  had  seen.  I  looked  upward,  to  discern  the  shadowy 
reflection  behind  the  gray  haze  of  cloud,  where  she  might 
have  paused  a  moment  on  her  eternal  journey  to  the  eternal 
world  of  souls. 

It  was  the  custom,  and  father  took  his  hat  off  to  thank 
his  friends  for  their  sympathy  and  attention.  His  lips 
moved,  but  no  words  were  audible. 

The  procession  moved  down  the  path  again.    Arthur's 


226  THE  MORGESONS. 

hand  was  in  mine  ;  he  stamped  his  feet  firmly  on  the  sand, 
as  if  to  break  the  oppressive  silence  which  no  one  seemed 
disposed  to  disturb.  The  same  ceremonies  were  performed 
in  starting  us  homeward,  by  the  same  person,  who  let  go 
the  reins,  and  lifted  his  hat  as  we  passed,  as  the  final  token 
of  attention  and  respect. 

The  windows  were  open  ;  a  wind  was  blowing  through 
the  house,  the  furniture  was  set  in  order,  the  doors  were 
thrown  back,  but  not  a  soul  was  there  when  we  went  in. 
The  duties  of  friendship  and  tradition  had  been  fulfilled  ; 
the  neighbors  had  gone  home  to  their  avocations.  For  the 
public,  the  tragedy  was  over  ;  all  speculation  on  the  degree 
of  our  grief,  or  our  indifference,  was  settled.  We  could 
take  off  our  mourning  garments  and  our  mourning  coun 
tenance,  now  that  we  were  alone  ;  or  we  could  give  way  to 
that  anguish  we  are  afraid  and  ashamed  to  show,  except 
before  the  One  above  human  emotion. 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

H^EMPERANCE  stayed  to  the  house-cleaning.  It  was 
J[  lucky,  she  could  not  help  saying,  as  house-cleaning 
must  always  be  after  a  funeral,  that  it  should  have  hap 
pened  at  the  regular  cleaning-time.  She  went  back  to  her 
own  house  as  soon  as  it  was  over.  Father  drove  to  Milford 
as  usual ;  Arthur  resumed  his  school,  and  Aunt  Merce,  who 
had  at  first  busied  herself  in  looking  over  her  wardrobe, 
and  selecting  from  it  what  she  thought  could  be  dyed, 
folded  it  away.  She  passed  hours  in  mother's  room,  from 
which  father  had  fled,  crying  over  her  Bible,  looking  in  her 
boxes  and  drawers  to  feed  her  sorrow  with  the  sight  of  the 
familiar  things,  alternating  those  periods  with  her  old  occu 
pation  of  looking  out  of  the  windows.  In  regard  to  myself, 
and  Veronica,  she  evinced  a  distress  at  the  responsibility 
which,  she  feared,  must  rest  upon  her.  Veronica,  dark  and 
silent,  played  such  heart-piercing  strains  that  father  could 
not  bear  to  hear  her  ;  so  when  she  played,  for  he  dared  not 
ask  her  to  desist,  he  went  away.  To  me  she  had  scarcely 
spoken  since  the  funeral.  She  wore  the  same  dress  each 
day — one  of  black  silk — and  a  small  black  mantle,  pinned 


THE  MORGESONS.  227 

across  her  bosom.  Soon  the  doors  began  to  open  and  shut 
after  their  old  fashion,  and  people  came  and  went  as  of  old 
on  errands  of  begging  or  borrowing. 

At  the  table  we  felt  a  sense  of  haste  ;  instead  of  linger 
ing,  as  was  our  wont,  we  separated  soon,  with  an  indiffer 
ent  air,  as  if  we  were  called  by  business,  not  sent  away  by 
sorrow.  But  if  our  eyes  fell  on  a  certain  chair,  empty 
against  the  wall,  a  cutting  pang  was  felt,  which  was  not  at 
all  concealed  ;  for  there  were  sudden  breaks  in  our  com 
monplace  talk,  which  diverged  into  wandering  channels, 
betraying  the  tension  of  feeling. 

Many  weeks  passed,  through  which  I  endured  an  aching, 
aimless  melancholy.  My  thoughts  continually  drifted 
through  the  vacuum  in  our  atmosphere,  and  returned  to 
impress  me  with  a  disbelief  in  the  enjoyment,  or  necessity 
of  keeping  myself  employed  with  the  keys  of  an  instrument, 
which,  let  me  strike  ever  so  cunningly,  it  was  certain  I 
could  never  obtain  mastery  over. 

One  day  I  went  to  walk  by  the  shore,  for  the  first  time 
since  my  return.  When  I  set  my  foot  on  the  ground,  the 
intolerable  light  of  the  brilliant  day  blazed  through  me  ;  I 
was  luminously  dark,  for  it  blinded  me.  Picking  my  way 
over  the  beach,  left  bare  by  the  tide,  with  my  eyes  fixed 
downward  till  I  could  see,  I  reached  the  point  between  our 
house  and  the  lighthouse  and  turned  toward  the  sea,  in 
haling  its  cool  freshness.  I  climbed  out  to  a  flat,  low  rock, 
on  the  point  ;  it  was  dry  in  the  sun,  and  the  weeds  hang 
ing  from  its  sides  were  black  and  crisp  ;  I  put  my  woolen 
shawl  on  it,  and  stretched  myself  along  its  edge.  Little 
pools  meshed  from  the  sea  by  the  numberless  rocks  round 
me  engrossed  my  attention.  How  white  and  pellucid  was 
the  shallow  near  me — no  shadow  but  the  shadow  of  my  face 
bending  over  it — nothing  to  ripple  its  surface,  but  my  im 
perceptible  breath  !  By  and  by  a  bunch  of  knotted  wrack 
floated  in  from  the  outside  and  lodged  in  a  crevice ;  a 
minute  creature  with  fringed  feet  darted  from  it  and  swam 
across  it.  After  the  knotted  wrack  came  the  fragment  of 
a  green  and  silky  substance,  delicate  enough  to  have  been 
the  remnant  of  a  web,  woven  in  the  palace  of  Circe.  "  There 
must  be  a  current,"  I  thought,  "which  sends  them  here." 
And  I  watched  the  inlet  for  other  waifs  ;  but  nothing  more 
came.  Eye-like  bubbles  rose  from  among  the  fronds  of  the 


228  THE  MORGESONS. 

knotted  wrack,  and,  sailing  on  uncertain  voyages,  broke  one 
by  one  and  were  wrecked  to  nothingness.  The  last  van 
ished  ;  the  pool  showed  me  the  motionless  shadow  of  my 
face  again,  on  which  I  pondered,  till  I  suddenly  became 
aware  of  a  slow,  internal  oscillation,  which  increased  till  I 
felt  in  a  strange  tumult.  1  put  my  hand  in  the  pool  and 
troubled  its  surface. 

"  Hail,  Cassandra  !     Hail  !  " 

I  sprang  up  the  highest  rock  on  the  point,  and  looked 
seaward,  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  flying  Spirit  who  had 
touched  me.  My  soul  was  brought  in  poise  and  quick 
ened  with  the  beauty  before  me !  The  wide,  shimmering 
plain  of  sea — its  aerial  blue,  stretching  beyond  the  limits  of 
my  vision  in  one  direction,  upbearing  transverse,  cloud-like 
islands  in  another,  varied  and  shadowed  by  shore  and  sky — 
mingled  its  essence  with  mine. 

The  wind  was  coming  ;  under  the  far  horizon  the  mass 
of  waters  begun  to  undulate.  Dark,  spear-like  clouds  rose 
above  it  and  menaced  the  east.  The  speedy  wind  tossed 
and  teased  the  sea  nearer  and  nearer,  till  I  was  surrounded 
by  a  gulf  of  milky  green  foam.  As  the  tide  rolled  in  I  re 
treated,  stepping  back  from  rock  to  rock,  round  which  the 
waves  curled  and  hissed,  baffled  in  their  attempt  to  climb 
over  me.  I  stopped  on  the  verge  of  the  tide-mark  ;  the 
sea  was  seeking  me  and  I  must  wait.  It  gave  tongue  as 
its  lips  touched  my  feet,  roaring  in  the  caves,  falling  on  the 
level  beaches  with  a  mad,  boundless  joy ! 

"  Have  then  at  life  !  "  my  senses  cried.  "  We  will  pos 
sess  its  longing  silence,  rifle  its  waiting  beauty.  We  will 
rise  up  in  its  light  and  warmth,  and  cry,  '  Come,  for  we 
wait.'  Its  roar,  its  beauty,  its  madness — we  will  have — all." 
I  turned  and  walked  swiftly  homeward,  treading  the  ridges 
of  white  sand,  the  black  drifts  of  sea-weed,  as  if  they  had 
been  a  smooth  floor. 

Aunt  Merce  was  at  the  door. 

"  Now,"  she  said,  "we  are  going  to  have  the  long  May 
storm.  The  gulls  are  flying  round  the  lighthouse.  How 
high  the  tide  is !  You  must  want  your  dinner.  I  wish  you 
would  see  to  Fanny  ;  she  is  lording  it  over  us  all." 

"  Yes,  yes,  I  will  do  it  ;  you  may  depend  on  me.  I  will 
reign,  and  serve  also." 

"  Oh,  Cassandra,  can  you  give 


THE  MORGESONS.  229 

"  I  must,  I  suppose.  Confound  the  spray  ;  it  is  flying 
against  the  windows." 

"  Come  in  ;  your  hair  is  wet,  and  your  shawl  is  wringing. 
Now  for  a  cold." 

"  I  never  shall  have  any  more  colds,  Aunt  Merce  ;  never 
mean  to  have  anything  to  myself — entirely,  you  know." 

"  You  do  me  good,  you  dear  girl ;  I  love  you  ";  and  she 
began  to  cry.  "  There's  nothing  but  cold  ham  and  boiled 
rice  for  your  dinner." 

"  What  time  is  it  ? " 

"  Near  three." 

I  opened  the  door  of  the  dining-room  ;  the  table  was 
laid,  and  I  walked  round  it,  on  a  tour  of  inspection. 

"  I  thought  you  might  as  well  have  your  dinner,  all  at 
once,"  said  Fanny,  by  the  window,  with  her  feet  tucked  up 
on  the  rounds  of  her  chair.  "  Here  it  is." 

"  I  perceive.     Who  arranged  it  ? " 

"  Me  and  Paddy  Margaret." 

"  How  many  tablecloths  have  we  ? " 

"  Plenty.  I  thought  as  you  didn't  seem  to  care  about 
any  regular  hour  for  dinner,  and  made  us  all  wait,  /needn't 
be  particular ;  besides,  I  am  not  the  waiter,  you  know." 

She  had  set  on  the  dishes  used  in  the  kitchen.  I  pulled 
off  cloth  and  all — the  dishes  crashed,  of  course — and  sat 
down  on  the  floor,  picking  out  the  remains  for  my  repast. 

"  What  will  Mr.  Morgeson  say  ? "  she  asked,  turning 
very  red. 

"  Shall  you  clear  away  this  rubbish  by  the  time  he  comes 
home  ? " 

"  Why,  I  must,  mustn't  I  ?  " 

"  I  hope  so.     Where's  Veronica  ?  " 

"  She  has  been  gone  since  twelve  ;  Sam  carried  her  to 
Temperance's  house." 

I  continued  my  meal.  Fanny  brought  a  chair  for  me, 
which  I  did  not  take.  I  scarcely  tasted  what  I  ate.  A 
wall  had  risen  up  suddenly  before  me,  which  divided  me 
from  my  dreams  ;  I  was  inside  it,  on  a  prosaic  domain  I 
must  henceforth  be  confined  to.  The  unthought-of  result 
of  mother's  death — disorganization,  began  to  show  itself. 
The  individuality  which  had  kept  the  weakness  and  faults 
of  our  family  life  in  abeyance  must  have  been  powerful  ; 
and  I  had  never  recognized  it !  I  attempted  to  analyze 


230  THE  MORGESONS. 

this  influence,  so  strong,  yet  so  invisibly  produced.  I 
thought  of  her  mildness,  her  dreamy  habits,  her  indifference, 
and  her  incapacity  of  comprehending  natures  unlike  her 
own.  Would  endowment  of  character  explain  it — that  fac 
ulty  which  we  could  not  change,  give,  or  take  ?  Character 
was  a  mysterious  and  indestructible  fact,  and  a  fact  that  I 
had  had  little  respect  for.  Upon  what  a  false  basis  I  had 
gone — a  basis  of  extremes.  I  had  seen  men  as  trees  walk 
ing  ;  that  was  my  experience. 

"  You'll  choke  yourself  with  that  dry  bread,"  exclaimed 
Fanny,  really  concerned  at  my  abstraction. 

"  Where  is  my  trunk  ?     Did  you  unlock  it  ? " 

"  I  took  from  it  what  you  needed  at  the  time  :  but  it  is 
not  unpacked,  and  it  is  in  the  upper  hall  closet." 

She  was  picking  up  the  broken  delf  meekly. 

"  Did  you  see  a  small  bag  I  brought  ?  And  where's  my 
satchel  ?  Good  heavens  !  What  has  made  me  put  off  that 
letter  so  ?  For  I  have  thought  of  it,  and  yet  I  have  kept  it 
back." 

"  It  is  safe,  in  your  closet,  Miss  Cassandra  ;  and  the  box 
is  there." 

"  Aunt  Merce,"  I  called,  "  will  you  have  nothing  to  eat  ?" 

She  laughed  hysterically,  when  she  saw  what  I  had  done. 

"  Where  is  Hepsey,  Aunt  Merce  ?" 

"  She  goes  to  bed  after  dinner,  you  know,  for  an  hour  or 
two." 

"  She  must  go  from  here." 

"  Oh  !  "  they  both  chorused,  "  what  for  ?  " 

"  She  is  too  old." 

"  She  has  money,  and  a  good  house,"  said  Aunt  Merce, 
"  if  she  must  go.  I  wonder  how  Mary  stood  it  so  long." 

•'*  Turn  'em  off,"  said  Fanny,  "  when  they  grow  useless." 

Aunt  Merce  reddened,  and  looked  hurt. 

"  I  shall  keepjwy  look  sharp  now  after  your  own  disin 
terestedness." 

I  wanted  to  go  to  my  room,  as  I  thought  it  time  to  ar 
range  my  trunks  and  boxes  ;  besides,  I  needed  rest — the 
sad  luxury  of  reaction.  But  word  was  brought  to  the  house 
that  Arthur  had  disappeared,  in  company  with  two  boys 
notorious  for  mischief.  His  teacher  was  afraid  they  might 
have  put  out  to  sea  in  a  crazy  sailboat.  We  were  in  a  state 
of  alarm  till  dark,  when  father  came  home,  bringing  him, 


THE  MORGESONS.  231 

having  found  him  on  the  way  to  Milford.  Veronica  had 
not  returned.  It  stormed  violently,  and  father  was  vexed 
because  a  horse  must  be  sent  through  the  storm  for  her. 
At  last  I  obtained  the  asylum  of  my  room,  in  an  irritable 
frame  of  mind,  convinced  that  such  would  be  my  condition 
each  day.  Composure  came  with  putting  my  drawers  and 
shelves  in  order.  The  box  with  Desmond's  flowers  I  threw 
into  the  fire,  without  opening  it,  ribbon  and  all,  for  I  could 
not  endure  the  sight  of  them.  I  unfolded  the  dresses  I  had 
worn  on  the  occasions  of  my  meeting  him  ;  even  the  collars 
and  ribbons  I  had  adorned  myself  with  were  conned  with 
jealous,  greedy  eyes  ;  in  looking  at  them  all  other  remem 
brances  connected  with  my  visit  vanished.  The  handker 
chief  scented  with  violets,  which  I  found  in  the  pocket  of 
the  dress  I  had  worn  when  I  met  him  at  Mrs.  Hepburn's, 
made  me  childish.  I  was  holding  it  when  Veronica  entered, 
bringing  with  her  an  atmosphere  of  dampness. 

"  Violet  !  I  like  it.  There  is  not  one  blooming  yet, 
Temperance  says.  Why  are  they  so  late  ?  There's  only 
this  pitiful  snake-grass,"  holding  up  a  bunch  of  drooping, 
pale  blossoms. 

"  Oh,  Verry,  can  you  forgive  me  ?  I  did  not  forget  these, 
but  I  felt  the  strangest  disinclination  to  look  them  up." 
And  I  gave  her  the  jewel  box  and  letter. 

She  seized  them,  and  opened  the  box  first. 

"  Child-Verry." 

"I  never  was  a  child,  you  know  ;  but  I  am  always  trying 
to  find  my  childhood." 

She  took  a  necklace  from  the  box,  composed  of  a  single 
string  of  small,  beautiful  pearls,  from  which  hung  an  egg- 
shaped  amethyst  of  pure  violet.  She  fastened  the  necklace 
round  her  throat. 

"  It  is  as  lucent  as  the  moon,"  she  said,  looking  down  at 
the  amethyst,  which  shed  a  watery  light ;  "  I  wish  you  had 
given  it  to  me  before." 

Breaking  the  seal  of  the  letter,  with  a  twist  of  her  mouth 
at  the  coat-of-arms  impressed  upon  it,  she  shook  out  the 
closely  written  pages,  and  saying,  "  There  is  a  volume," 
began  reading.  "  It  is  very  good,"  she  observed  at  the  end 
of  the  first  page,  "  a  regular  composition,"  and  went  on  with 
an  air  of  increasing  interest.  "  How  does  he  look  ? "  she 
asked,  stopping  again. 


232  THE  MORGESONS. 

"As  if  he  longed  to  see  you." 

Her  eyes  went  in  quest  of  him  so  far  that  I  thought  they 
must  be  startled  by  a  sudden  vision. 

"  How  did  you  find  his  family  ? " 

"  Not  like  him  much." 

"  I  knew  that ;  he  would  not  have  loved  me  so  suddenly 
had  I  not  been  wholly  unlike  any  woman  he  had  known." 

"  His  character  is  individual." 

"  I  should  know  that  from  his  influence  upon  you." 

She  looked  at  me  wistfully,  smoothed  my  hair  with  her 
cool  hand,  and  resumed  the  letter. 

"  He  thinks  he  will  not  come  to  Surrey  with  you  ;  asks 
me  to  tell  him  my  wishes,"  she  repeated  rapidly,  translating 
from  the  original.  "  What  do  I  think  of  our  future  ?  How 
shall  we  propose  any  change  ?  Will  Cassandra  describe 
her  visit  ?  Will  she  tell  me  that  he  thinks  of  going  abroad  ? " 

She  dropped  the  letter.  "  What  pivot  is  he  swinging  on? 
What  is  he  uncertain  about  ?  " 

"  There  must  be  more  to  read." 

She  turned  another  page. 

"  If  I  go  to  Switzerland  (I  think  of  going  on  account  of 
family  affairs),  when  shall  I  return  ?  My  family,  of  course, 
expected  me  to  marry  in  their  pale  ;  that  is,  my  mother 
rather  prefers  to  select  a  wife  for  me  than  that  I  should  do 
it.  But,  as  you  shall  never  come  to  Belem,  her  plans  or 
wishes  need  make  no  difference  to  us.  If  Cassandra  would 
be  to  us  what  she  might,  how  things  would  clear  !  Don't 
you  think,  my  love,  that  there  should  be  the  greatest  sym 
pathy  between  sisters  ? " 

I  laughed. 

Verry  said  she  did  not  like  his  letter  much  after  all.  He 
evidently  thought  her  incapable  of  understanding  ordinary 
matters.  It  was  well,  though  ;  it  made  their  love  idyllic. 

"  Let  us  speak  of  matters  nearer  home." 

"  Let  us  go  to  my  room  ;  the  storm  is  so  loud  this  side  of 
the  house." 

"  No  ;  you  must  stay  till  the  walls  tremble.  Have  you 
seen,  Verry,  any  work  for  me  to  do  here  ?  " 

"  Everything  is  changed.  I  have  tried  to  be  as  steady  as 
when  mother  was  here,  but  I  cannot  ;  I  whirl  with  a  vague 
idea  of  liberty.  Did  she  keep  the  family  conscience  ?  Now 
that  she  has  gone  I  feel  responsible  no  more." 


THE  MORGESONS.  233 

"  An  idea  of  responsibility  has  come  to  me — what  plain 
people  call  Duty." 

"  I  do  not  feel  it,"  she  cried  mournfully.  "  I  must  yield 
to  you  then.  You  can  be  good.' 

"  I  must  act  so ;  but  help  me,  Verry ;  I  have  contrary 
desires." 

"  What  do  they  find  to  feed  on  ?  What  are  they  ?  Have 
you  your  evil  spirit  ?  " 

"  Yes  ;  a  devil  named  Temperament." 

"  Now  teach  me,  Cassandra." 

"  Not  I.  Go,  and  write  Ben.  Make  excuses  for  my  neg 
ligence  toward  you  about  his  letter.  Tell  him  to  come.  I 
shall  write  Alice  and  Helen  this  evening.  We  have  been 
shut  off  from  the  world  by  the  gate  of  Death  ;  but  we  must 
come  back." 

"One  thing  you  may  be  sure  of — though  I  shall  be  no 
help,  I  shall  never  annoy  you.  I  know  that  my  instincts 
are  fine  only  in  a  self-centering  direction  ;  yours  are  differ 
ent.  I  shall  trust  them.  Since  you  have  spoken,  I  per 
ceive  the  shadows  you  have  raised  and  must  encounter.  I 
retreat  before  them,  admiring  your  discernment,  and  plac 
ing  confidence  in  your  powers.  You  convince  if  you 
do  not  win  me.  Who  can  guess  how  your  every  plan 
and  hope  of  well-doing  may  be  thwarted  ?  I  need  say  no 
more  ?" 

"  Nothing  more." 

She  left  the  room.  There  would  be  no  antagonism  be 
tween  us ;  but  there  would  be  pain — on  one  side.  The 
distance  which  had  kept  us  apart  was  shortened,  but  not 
annihilated.  What  could  I  expect  ?  The  silent  and  serene 
currents  which  flow  from  souls  like  Veronica's  and  Ben's, 
whose  genius  is  not  of  the  heart,  refuse  to  enter  a  nature  so 
turbulent  as  mine.  But  my  destiny  must  be  changed  by 
such  !  It  was  taken  for  granted  that  my  own  spirit  should 
not  rule  me.  And  with  what  reward  ?  Any,  but  that  of 
sympathy.  But  I  muttered  : 

"  'I  dimly  see 

My  far-off  doubtful  purpose,  as  a  mother 
Conjectures  of  the  features  of  her  child 
Ere  it  is  born.'  " 

The  house  trembled  in  the  fury  of  the  storm.     The  waves 


234  THE  MORGESONS. 

were  hoarse  with  their  vain  bawling,  and  the  wind  shrieked 
at  every  crevice  of  chimney,  door,  and  window.  No  answer 
ing  excitement  in  me  now  !  I  had  grown  older. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

A  FEW  days  after,  I  went  to  Milford  with  father,  to  make 
some  purchases.  I  sought  a  way  to  speak  to  him  about 
the  future,  intending  also  to  go  on  with  various  remarks ;. 
but  it  seemed  difficult  to  begin.  Observing  him,  as  he  con 
templated  the  road  before  us,  grave  and  abstracted,  I 
recollected  the  difference  between  his  age  and  mother's,  and 
wondered  at  my  blindness,  while  I  compared  the  old  man 
of  my  childhood,  who  existed  for  the  express  purpose  of 
making  money  for  the  support  and  pleasure  of  his  family, 
and  to  accommodate  all  its  whims,  with  the  man  before 
me, — barely  forty-eight,  without  a  wrinkle  in  his  firm,  ruddy 
face,  and  only  an  occasional  white  hair,  in  ambuscade  among 
his  fair,  curly  locks.  My  exclusive  right  over  him  I  felt 
doubtful  about.  I  gave  my  attention  to  the  road  also,  and 
remarked  that  I  thought  the  season  was  late. 

"  Yes.     Why  didn't  Somers  come  home  with  you  ? " 

"  I  hardly  know.  The  matter  of  the  marriage  was  not 
settled,  nor  a  plan  of  spending  a  summer  abroad." 

"  Will  it  suit  him  to  vegetate  in  Surrey  ?  Veronica  will 
not  leave  home." 

"  He  has  no  ambition." 

"  It  is  a  curse  to  inherit  money  in  this  country.  Mr. 
Somers  writes  that  Ben  will  have  three  thousand  a  year  ;  but 
that  the  disposal,  at  present,  is  not  in  his  power." 

I  explained  as  well  as  I  could  the  Pickersgill  property. 

"  I  see  how  it  is.  The  children  are  waiting  for  the  princi 
pal,  and  have  exacted  the  income  ;  and  their  lives  have  been 
warped  for  this  reason.  Ben  has  not  begun  life  yet.  But  I 
like  Somers  exceedingly." 

"  He  is  the  best  of  them,  his  mother  the  worst." 

"  Did  you  have  a  passage  ? " 

"  She  attempted." 

"  I  can  give  Veronica  nothing  beyond  new  clothes  or 
furniture ;  whatever  she  likes  that  way.  To  draw  money 


THE  MORGESONS.  235 

from  my  business  is  impossible.  My  business  fluctuates 
like  quicksilver,  and  it  is  enormously  extended.  If  they 
should  have  two  thousand  a  year,  it  would  be  a  princely 
income  ;  I  should  feel  so  now,  if  they  had  it  clear  of 
incumbrance." 

"  Do  you  mean  to  say  that  your  income  does  not  amount 
to  so  much  ? " 

"  My  outgoes  and  incomes  have  for  a  long  time  been  in 
volved  with  each  other.  I  do  not  separate  them.  I  have 
never  lived  extravagantly.  My  luxury  has  been  in  doing 
too  much." 

A  cold  feeling  came  over  me. 

"  By  the  way,  Mr.  Somers  pays  you  compliments  in  his 
note.  How  old  are  you  ?  I  forget."  He  surveyed  me  with 
a  doubtful  look.  Are  you  thin,  or  what  is  it  ? " 

"  East  wind,  I  guess.     I  am  twenty-five." 

"  And  Veronica  ?" 

"  Over  twenty." 

"  She  must  be  married.  I  hope  she  will  cut  her  practical 
eye-teeth  then,  for  Somers's  sake." 

"  He  does  not  require  a  practically  minded  woman." 

"  What  do  men  require  !  " 

"  They  require  the  souls  and  bodies  of  women,  without 
having  the  trouble  of  knowing  the  difference  between  the 
one  and  other." 

"  So  bad  as  that  ?    Whoa  !  " 

He  stopped  to  pay  toll,  and  the  conversation  stopped. 

On  the  way  home,  however,  I  found  a  place  to  begin  my 
proposed  talk,  and  burst  out  with,  "  I  think  Hepsey  should 
leave  us." 

"  What  ails  Hepsey  ? " 

"  She  is  so  old,  and  is  such  a  poke." 

"  You  must  tell   her  yourself  to  go.     She  has  money 
enough  to  be  comfortable  ;  I  have  some  of  it,  as  well  as  that 
of  half  the  widows,  old  maids,  and  sailors'  wives  in  Surrey,* 
being  better  than  the  Milford  banks,  they  think." 

I  felt  another  cold  twinge. 

"  What !  are  our  servants  your  creditors?" 

"  Servants — don't  say  that,"  he  said  harshly  ;  "we  do  not 
have  these  distinctions  here." 

"  It  costs  you  more  than  two  thousand  a  year." 

"  How  do  you  know  ? " 


236  THE  MORGESONS. 

"  Think  of  the  hired  people — the  horses,  the  cows,  pigs, 
hens,  garden,  fields — all  costing  more  than  they  yield." 

"  What  has  come  over  you  ?  Did  you  ever  think  of  money 
before  ?  Tell  me,  have  you  ever  been  in  our  cellar  ? " 

"Yes,  to  look  at  the  kittens." 

"  In  the  store-room?  " 

"  For  apples  and  sweetmeats." 

"  Look  into  these  matters,  if  you  like  ;  they  never  troubled 
your  mother,  at  least  I  never  knew  that  they  did  ;  but  don't 
make  your  reforms  tiresome." 

What  encouragement ! 

In  the  yard  we  saw  Fanny  contemplating  a  brood  of  hens, 
which  were  picking  up  corn  before  her.  "  Take  Fanny  for 
a  coadjutor  ;  she  is  eighteen,  and  a  bright  girl."  She  sprang 
to  the  chaise,  and  caught  the  reins,  which  he  threw  into  her 
hands,  unbuckled  the  girth,  and,  before  I  was  out  of  sight, 
was  leading  the  horse  to  water. 

"  We  might  economize  in  the  way  of  a  stable-boy,"  I  said. 

"  Pooh  !  you  are  not  indulgent.  Here,"  whistling  to 
Fanny,  "  let  Sam  do  that."  She  pouted  her  lips  at  him,  and 
he  laughed. 

Aunt  Merce  gave  me  a  letter  the  moment  I  entered.  "  It 
is  in  Alice's  hand  ;  sit  down  and  read  it." 

She  took  her  handkerchief  and  a  bit  of  flagroot  from  her 
pocket,  to  be  ready  for  the  sympathetic  flow  which  she  ex 
pected.  But  the  letter  was  short.  She  had  seen,  it  said, 
the  announcement  of  mother's  death  in  a  newspaper  at  the 
time.  She  knew  what  a  change  it  had  made.  We  might 
be  sure  that  we  should  never  find  our  old  level,  however 
happy  and  forgetful  we  might  grow.  She  bore  us  all  in  mind 
but  sent  no  message,  except  to  Aunt  Merce  ;  she  must  come 
to  Rosville  before  summer  was  over.  And  could  she  assist 
me  by  taking  Arthur  for  a  while  ?  Edward  was  a  quiet, 
companionable  lad,  and  Arthur  would  be  safe  with  him  at 
home  and  at  school. 

"  I  wish  you  would  go,  Aunt  Merce." 

"  Yes,  why  not,  Mercy  ? "  asked  father.  "  Would  it  be  a 
good  thing  for  Arthur,  Cassandra  ?  You  know  what  Sur 
rey  is  for  a  boy." 

"  I  know  what  Rosville  was  for  a  girl,"  I  thought.  It  was 
an  excellent  plan  for  Arthur  ;  but  a  feeling  of  repulsion  at 
the  idea  of  his  going  kept  me  silent. 


THE  MORGESONS.  237 

"  Is  It  a  good  idea  ? "  he  repeated. 

"  Yes,  yes,  father  ;  send  him  by  all  means." 

Aunt  Merce  sighed.  "  If  he  goes,  I  must  go  ;  I  can  be 
the  receptacle  for  his  griefs  and  trials  for  a  while  at  least, 
and  be  a  little  useful  that  way.  You  know,  Locke,  I  am 
but  a  poor  creature." 

"  I  was  not  aware  of  that  fact,  and  am  astonished  to  hear 
you  say  so,  Mercy,  when  you  know  how  far  back  I  can  re 
member.  Mary  shines  all  along  those  years,  and  you  with 
her." 

"  Locke,  you  are  the  kindest  man  in  the  world." 

"  He  feels  fifty  years  younger  than  she  appears  to  him," 
I  thought ;  but  I  thanked  him  for  his  consideration  for  her. 

"  Veronica  has  had  a  letter  to-day  from  Mr.  Somers 
What  did  you  buy  in  Milford  ?" 

"  Mr.  Morgeson,"  Fanny  called,  "  Bumpus,  the  horse- 
jockey,  is  in  the  yard.  He  says  Bill  is  spavined.  I  think 
he  lies  ;  he  wants  to  trade." 

He  went  out  with  her. 

"  Aunt  Merce,  let  us  be  more  together.  What  do  you 
think  of  spending  our  evenings  in  the  parlor?" 

'  Do  you  expect  to  break  up  our  habits  ? " 

'  I  would  if  I  could." 

'  Try  Veronica." 

'  I  have." 

'  Will  she  give  up  solitude  ?  " 

'  Bring  your  knitting  to  the  parlor  and  see." 

Veronica  came  in  to  tell  me  that  Ben  was  coming  in  a 
week. 

"  Glad  of  it." 

"  Sends  love  to  you." 

"  Obliged." 

"  Calls  me  'poor  girl ';  speaks  beautifully  of  his  remem 
brance  of  mother,  and — " 

"What?" 

"  Tells  me  to  rely  on  your  faithful  soul  ;  to  trust  in  the 
reasonable  hope  of  our  remaining  together;  to  try  to  establish 
an  equality  of  tastes  and  habits  between  us.  He  tells  me 
what  I  never  knew, — that  I  need  you — that  we  need  each 
other." 

"Is  that  all?" 

"  There  is  more  for  me" 


238  THE  MORGESONS. 

I  left  her.  Closing  the  door  of  my  room  gently,  I  thought: 
"  Ben  is  a  good  man  ;  but  for  all  that,  I  feel  like  blind 
Sampson  just  now.  Could  I  lay  my  hands  on  the  pillars 
which  supported  the  temple  he  has  built,  I  would  wrench 
them  from  their  foundation  and  surprise  him  by  toppling 
the  roof  on  his  head." 

His  arrival  was  delayed  for  a  few  days.  When  he  came 
Surrey  looked  its  best,  for  it  was  June  ;  and  though  the 
winds  were  chilly,  the  grass  was  grown  and  the  orchard 
leaves  were  crowding  off  the  blossoms.  The  woods  were 
vividly  green.  The  fauns  were  playing  there,  and  the  sirens 
sang  under  the  sea.  But  I  had  other  thoughts ;  the  fauns 
and  sirens  were  not  for  me,  perplexed  as  I  was  with  house 
hold  cares.  Hepsey  proposed  staying  another  year,  but  I 
was  firm ;  and  she  went,  begging  Fanny  to  go  with  her  and 
be  as  a  daughter.  She  declined  ;  but  the  proposition  in 
fluenced  her  to  be  troublesome  to  me.  She  told  me  she 
was  of  age  now,  and  that  no  person  had  a  right  to  control 
her.  At  present  she  was  useful  where  she  was,  and  might 
remain. 

"  Will  you  have  wages  ? "  I  asked  her. 

"  That  is  Mr.  Morgeson's  business." 

My  anger  would  have  pleased  her,  so  I  concealed  it. 

"Your  ability,  Fanny,  is  better  than  your  disposition. 
Me, — you  do  not  suit  at  all  ;  but  it  is  certain  that  father 
depends  on  you  for  his  small  comforts,  and  Veronica  likes 
you.  I  wish  you  would  stay." 

She  placed  her  arms  akimbo. 

"  I  should  like  to  find  you  out,  exactly.  I  can't.  I  never 
could  find  out  your  mother  ;  all  the  rest  of  you  are  as  clear 
as  daylight."  And  she  snapped  her  fingers  as  if  '  the  rest ' 
were  between  them. 

"  You  lack  faith." 

"  You  believe  that  this  is  a  beautiful  world,  don't  you  ? 
I  hate  it.  I  should  think  you  had  reason,  too,  for  hating  it. 
Pray  what  have  you  got  ? " 

"  An  ungrateful  imp  that  was  bequeathed  to  me." 

She  saw  father  in  the  garden  beckoning  me.  "  He  wants 
you.  I  do  not  hate  the  world  always,"  she  added,  with  her 
eyes  fixed  on  him. 

I  was  disposed  to  trouble  the  still  waters  of  our  domestic 
life  with  theories.  Our  ways  were  too  mechanical.  The 


THE  MORGESONS.  239 

cld-fashioned  asceticism  which  considered  air,  sleep,  food, 
as  mere  necessities  was  stupid.  But  I  had  no  assistance  ; 
Veronica  thought  that  her  share  of  my  plans  must  consist 
of  a  diligent  notice  of  all  that  I  did,  which  she  gave,  and 
then  went  to  her  own  life,  kept  sacredly  apart.  Fanny 
laughed  in  her  sleeve  and  took  another  side — the  practical, 
and  shone  in  it,  becoming  in  fact  the  true  manager  and 
worker,  while  I  played.  Aunt  Merce  was  helpless.  She 
neglected  her  former  cares  ;  and  father  was,  what  he  always 
had  been  at  home, — heedless  and  indifferent. 

One  morning  we  stood  on  the  landing  stair — Ben,  Ve 
ronica,  and  myself — looking  from  the  window.  A  silver  mist 
so  thinly  wrapped  the  orchard  that  the  wet,  shining  leaves 
thrust  themselves  through  in  patches.  Birds  were  singing 
beneath,  feeling  the  warmth  of  the  sun,  scarcely  hid.  The 
young  leaves  and  blossoms  steeping  in  the  mist  sent  up  a 
delicious  odor. 

"  I  like  Surrey  better  and  better,"  he  said  ;  "  the  atmos 
phere  suits  me." 

"  Oh,  I  am  glad,"  answered  Verry.  "  I  could  never  go 
away.  It  is  not  beautiful,  I  know  ;  in  fact,  it  is  meager 
when  it  comes  to  be  talked  of  ;  but  there  are  suggestions 
here  which  occasionally  stimulate  me." 

"  Verry,  can  you  keep  people  away  from  me  when  I  live 
here  ? " 

I  do  not  like  that  feeling  in  you." 
;I  like  fishermen." 

'  And  a  boat  ? " 

'  Yes,  I'll  have  a  boat." 

'  I  shall  never  go  out  with  you." 

;Casswill.  I  shall  cruise  with  her,  and  you,  in  your 
house,  need  not  see  us  depart.  Eric  the  Red  made  excur 
sions  in  this  region.  We  will  skirt  the  shores,  which  are 
the  same,  nearly,  as  when  he  sailed  from  them,  with  his 
Northmen  ;  and  the  ancient  barnacles  will  think,  when  they 
see  her  fair  hair,  which  she  will  let  ripple  around  her  stately 
shoulders,  that  he  has  come  back  with  his  bride." 

Verry  looked  with  delight  at  him  and  then  at  me.  "  Her 
long,  yellow  hair  and  her  stately  shoulders,"  she  repeated. 

"  Will  you  go  ? "  he  asked. 

"  Of  course,"  I  answered,  going  downstairs.  I  happened 
to  look  back  on  the  way.  His  arm  was  round  Verry,  but 


240  THE  MORGESONS. 

he  was  looking  after  me.  He  withdrew  it  as  our  eyes  met, 
and  came  down  ;  but  she  remained,  looking  from  the  win 
dow.  We  went  into  the  parlor,  and  I  shut  the  door. 

"  Now  then,"  I  said. 

He  took  a  note  from  his  pocket  and  gave  it  to  me. 

I  broke  its  seal,  and  read  :  "  Tell  Ben,  before  you  can 
reflect  upon  it,  that  /  will  go  abroad,  and  then  repent  of 
it, — as  I  shall.  Desmond." 

" '  Tell  Ben,'  "  I  repeated  aloud,  "  '  that/  will  go  abroad. 
Desmond.'  " 

"  Do  you  guess,  as  he  does,  that  my  reason  for  going  was 
that  I  might  be  kept  aloof  from  all  sight  and  sound  of  you 
and  him  ?  In  the  result  toward  which  I  saw  you  drive  I 
could  have  no  part." 

"  Stay  ;  I  know  that  he  will  go." 

"  You  do  not  know.  Nor  do  you  know  what  such  a  man 
is  when — "  checking  himself. 

"  He  is  in  love  ? " 

"  If  you  choose  to  call  it  that." 

"  I  do." 

All  there  was  to  say  should  be  said  now  ;  but  I  felt  more 
agitated  than  was  my  wont.  These  feelings,  not  accord 
ing  with  my  housewifely  condition,  upset  me.  I  looked  at 
him  ;  he  began  to  walk  about,  taking  up  a  book,  which  he 
leaned  his  head  over,  and  whose  covers  he  bent  back  till 
they  cracked. 

"  You  would  read  me  that  way,"  I  said. 

"  It  is  rather  your  way  of  reading." 

"  Can  you  remember  that  Desmond  amd  I  influence 
each  other  to  act  alike  ?  And  that  we  comprehend  each 
other  without  collision  ?  I  love  him,  as  a  mature  woman 
may  love, — once,  Ben,  only  once  ;  the  fire-tipped  arrows 
rarely  pierce  soul  and  sense,  blood  and  brain." 

He  made  a  gesture,  expressive  of  contempt. 

"  Men  are  different  ;  he  is  different." 

"  You  have  already  spoken  for  me,  and,  I  suppose,  you 
will  for  him." 

"  I  venture  to.  Desmond  is  a  violent,  tyrannical,  sensual 
man  ;  his  perceptions  are  his  pulses.  That  he  is  handsome, 
clever,  resolute,  and  sings  well,  I  can  admit ;  but  no  more." 

"  We  will  not  bandy  his  merits  or  his  demerits  between 
us.  Let  us  observe  him.  And  now,  tell  me, — what  am  I  ? " 


THE  MORGESONS.  241 

"  You  have  been  my  delight  and  misery  ever  since  I  knew 
you.  I  saw  you  first,  so  impetuous,  yet  self-contained  ! 
Incapable  of  insincerity,  devoid  of  affection  and  courage 
ously  naturally  beautiful.  Then,  to  my  amazement,  I  saw 
that,  unlike  most  women,  you  understood  your  instincts  ; 
that  you  dared  to  define  them,  and  were  impious  enough 
to  follow  them.  You  debased  my  ideal,  you  confused  me, 
also,  for  I  could  never  affirm  that  you  were  wrong  ;  forcing 
me  to  consult  abstractions,  they  gave  a  verdict  in  your 
favor,  which  almost  unsexed  you  in  my  estimation.  I  must 
own  that  the  man  who  is  willing  to  marry  you  has  more 
courage  than  I  have.  Is  it  strange  that  when  I  found 
your  counterpart,  Veronica,  that  I  yielded  ?  Her  delicate, 
pure,  ignorant  soul  suggests  to  me  eternal  repose." 

"  It  is  not  necessary  that  you  should  fatigue  your  mind 
with  abstractions  concerning  her.  It  will  be  the  literal  you 
will  hunger  for,  dear  Ben." 

"  Damn  it  !  the  world  has  got  a  twist  in  it,  and  we  all  go 
round  with  it,  devilishly  awry." 

I  said  no  more.  He  had  defined  my  limits,  he  would, 
as  far  as  possible,  control  me  without  pity  or  compassion, 
thinking,  probably,  that  I  needed  none  ;  the  powers  he 
had  always  given  me  credit  for  must  be  sufficing.  I  could 
not  comprehend  him.  How  was  it  that  he  and  Verry  gave 
me  such  horrible  pain  ?  Was  it  exceptional  ?  Could  I 
claim  nothing  from  women  ?  Had  they  thought  me  an 
anomaly  ? — while  I  thought  it  was  Veronica  who  was  called 
peculiar  and  original  ?  The  end  of  it  all  must  be  for  me 
to  assimilate  with  their  happiness ! 

"  Well  ?  "  he  said. 

"  Thank  you." 

Then  Veronica  came,  swinging  her  bonnet.  "  The  Saga 
more  has  arrived,  and  I  am  going  to  stand  on  the  wharf  to 
count  the  sailors,  and  learn  if  they  have  all  come  home. 
Will  you  go,  Ben  ?  " 

He  complied,  and  I  was  left  alone. 


242  THE  MORGESONS. 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

WHEN  Ben  left  Surrey,  I  sent  no  message  or  letter  by 
him,  and  he  asked  for  none.  But  at  once  I  wrote  to 
Desmond,  and  did  not  finish  my  letter  till  after  midnight. 
Intoxicated  with  the  liberty  my  pen  offered  me,  I  roamed 
over  a  wide  field  of  paper.  The  next  morning  I  burnt  it. 
But  there  was  something  to  be  said  to  him  before  his  de 
parture,  and  again  I  wrote.  I  might  have  condensed  still 
more.  In  this  way — 

VESTIGIA  RETRORSUM. 
CHARLES  MORGESON. 

When  the  answer  came  I  reflected  before  I  read  it,  that  it 
might  be  the  last  link  of  the  chain  between  us.  Not  a  bright 
one  at  the  best,  nor  garlanded  with  flowers,  nor  was  it  metal, 
silver,  or  gold.  There  was  rust  on  it,  it  was  corroded,  for 
it  was  forged  out  of  his  and  my  substance. 

I  read  it :  "I  am  yours,  as  1  have  been,  since  the  night 
I  asked  you  '  How  came  those  scars  ? '  Did  you  guess 
that  I  read  your  story?  I  go  from  you  with  one  idea  ;  I  love 
you,  and  I  must  go.  Brave  woman  !  you  have  shamed  me 
to  death  almost." 

He  sent  me  a  watch.  I  was  to  wear  it  from  the  second 
of  July.  It  was  small  and  plain,  but  there  were  a  few 
words  scratched  inside  the  case  with  the  point  of  a  knife, 
which  I  read  every  day.  Veronica's  eye  fell  on  it  the  first 
time  I  put  it  on. 

"  What  time  is  it  ?  " 

"  Near  one." 

"  I  thought,  from  the  look  of  it,  that  it  might  be  near  two." 

"  Don't  mar  my  ideal  of  you,  Verry,  by  growing  witty." 

She  shrugged  her  shoulders.  "I  guess  you  found  it 
washed  ashore,  among  the  rocks  ;  was  it  bruised  ?  " 

"  A  man  gave  it  to  me." 

"  A  merman,  who  fills  the  sea-halls  with  a  voice  of  power? " 

"May  be." 

"  Tut,  Ben  gave  it  to  you.  It  is  a  kind  of  housekeepish 
present  ;  did  he  add  scissors  and  needle-case  ?" 


THE  MORGESONS.  243 

"  What  if  the  merman  should  take  me  some  day  to  the 
'  pale  sea-groves  straight  and  high  ? ' ' 

"  You  must  never,  never  go.  You  cannot  leave  me, 
Cass  ! "  She  grasped  my  sleeve,  and  pulled  me  round.. 
"  How  much  was  there  for  you  to  do  in  the  life  before  us, 
which  you  talked  about  ?  " 

"  I  remember.     There  is  much,  to  be  sure." 

Fanny's  quick  eye  caught  the  glitter  of  the  watch.  The 
mystery  teased  her,  but  she  said  nothing. 

Aunt  Merce  had  gone  to  Rosville  with  Arthur.  There 
was  no  visitor  with  us  ;  there  had  been  none  beside  Ben 
since  mother  died.  All  seemed  kept  at  bay.  I  wrote 
to  Helen  to  come  and  pass  the  summer,  but  her  child 
was  too  young  for  such  a  journey,  she  concluded.  Ben 
had  sailed  for  Switzerland.  The  summer,  whose  bio 
graphy  like  an  insignificant  life  must  be  written  in  a  few 
words,  was  a  long  one  to  live  through.  It  happened  to  be 
a  dry  season,  which  was  unfrequent  on  our  coast.  Days 
rolled  by  without  the  variation  of  wind,  rain,  or  hazy 
weather.  The  sky  was  an  opaque  blue  till  noon,  when  solid 
white  clouds  rose  in  the  north,  and  sailed  seaward,  or 
barred  the  sunset,  which  turned  them  crimson  and  black. 
The  mown  fields  grew  yellow  under  the  stare  of  the  brassy 
sun,  and  the  leaves  cracked  and  curled  for  the  want  of 
moisture.  It  was  dull  in  the  village,  no  ships  were  build 
ing,  none  sailed,  none  arrived.  But  father  was  more  ab 
sorbed  than  ever,  more  away  from  home.  He  wrote  often 
in  the  evening,  and  pored  over  ledgers  with  his  book 
keeper.  Late  at  night  I  found  him  sorting  and  reading 
papers.  He  forgot  us.  But  Fanny,  as  he  grew  forgetful, 
improved  as  housekeeper.  Her  energy  was  untiring  ;  she 
waited  so  much  on  him  that  I  grew  forgetful  of  him. 
Veronica  was  the  same  as  before  ;  her  room  was  pleasant 
with  color  and  perfume,  the  same  delicate  pains  with  her 
dress  each  day  was  taken.  She  looked  as  fair  as  a  lily,  as 
serene  as  the  lake  on  which  it  floats,  except  when  Fanny 
tried  her.  With  me  she  never  lost  temper.  But  I  saw 
little  of  her  ;  she  was  as  fixed  in  her  individual  pursuits  as 
ever. 

There  were  intervals  now  when  all  my  grief  for  mother 
returned,  and  I  sat  in  my  darkened  chamber,  recalling  with 
a  sad  persistence  her  gestures,  her  motions,  the  tones  of 


244  THE  MORGESONS. 

her  voice,  through  all  the  past  back  to  my  first  remem 
brance.  The  places  she  inhabited,  her  opinions  and  her 
actions  I  commented  on  with  a  minuteness  that  allowed  no 
detail  to  escape.  When  my  thoughts  turned  from  her,  it 
seemed  as  if  she  were  newly  lost  in  the  vast  and  wandering 
Universe  of  the  Dead,  whence  I  had  brought  her. 

In  September  a  letter  came  from  Ben,  which  promised  a 
return  by  the  last  of  October.  With  the  ruffling  autumnal 
breezes  my  stagnation  vanished,  and  I  began  my  shore  life 
again  in  a  mood  which  made  memory  like  hope  ;  but  stay 
ing  out  too  late  one  evening,  I  came  home  in  a  chill.  From 
the  chill  I  went  to  a  fever,  which  lasted  some  days.  Ve 
ronica  came  every  day  to  see  me,  and  groaned  over  my  hair, 
which  fell  off,  but  she  could  not  stay  long,  the  smell  of 
medicine  made  her  ill,  the  dark  room  gave  her  an  uneasiness  ; 
besides,  she  did  not  know  what  she  should  say.  1  sent  her 
away  always.  Fanny  took  care  of  me  till  I  was  able  to 
move  about  the  room,  then  she  absented  herself  most  of 
the  time.  One  afternoon  Veronica  came  to  tell  me  that 
Margaret,  the  Irish  girl,  was  going  ;  she  supposed  that 
Fanny  was  insufferable,  and  that  she  could  not  stay. 

"  I  must  be  well  by  to-morrow,"  I  said. 

The  next  day  I  went  down  stairs,  and  was  greeted  with 
the  epithet  of  "  Scarecrow." 

"  Do  you  feel  pretty  strong  ?  "  asked  Fanny,  with  a  pe 
culiar  accent,  when  we  happened  to  be  alone. 

"  What  is  the  matter  ? "     Out  with  it  !  " 

"  Something's  going  to  turn  up  here  ;  something  ails  Mr. 
Morgeson." 

I  guess  his  ailment. 

"  He  is  going  to  fail,  he  is  smashed  all  to  nothing.  He 
knows  what  will  be  said  about  him,  yet  he  goes  about  with 
perfect  calmness.  But  he  feels  it.  I  tried  him  this  morning, 
I  gave  him  tea  instead  of  coffee,  and  he  didn't  know  it  !  " 

"  Margaret's  gone  ?  " 

"  There  must  be  rumors  ;  for  she  asked  him  for  her 
wages  a  day  or  two  ago.  He  paid  her,  and  said  she  had 
better  go." 

I  examined  my  hands  involuntarily     She  tittered. 

"  How  easily  you  will  wash  the  long-necked  glasses  and 
pitchers,  with  your  slim  hand  !  " 

I  dropped  into  a  mental  calculation,  respecting  the  cost 


THE  MORGESONS.  245 

of  an  entire  change  of  wardrobe  suitable  to  our  reduced 
circumstances,  and  speculated  on  a  neat  cottage-style  of 
cookery. 

"  I  think  I  must  go,  too,"  she  said  with  cunning  eyes. 

"How  can  you  bear  to,  when  there  will  be  so  much 
trouble  for  you  to  enjoy  ?" 

"How  tired  you  look,  Cass,"  said  Veronica,  slipping  in 
quietly.  "  What  are  you  talking  about  ?  Has  Fanny  been 
tormenting  you  ?  " 

"  Of  course,"  she  answered.  "  But  if  am  not  mistaken, 
you  will  be  tormented  by  others  besides  me." 

"  Go  out  !  "  said  Veronica.     "  Leave  us,  pale  pest." 

"  You  may  want  me  here  yet." 

"  What  does  she  mean,  Cass  ?  " 

I  hesitated. 

"  Tell  me,"  she  said,  in  her  imperative,  gentle  voice. 
"  What  is  there  that  I  cannot  know  ?  " 

"  Now  she  is  what  you  call  high-toned,  isn't  it  ?  "  inquired 
Fanny. 

Veronica  threw  her  book  at  her. 

"  The  truth  is,  ladies,  that  your  father,  the  principal 
man  in  Surrey,  is  not  worth  a  dollar.  What  do  you  think 
of  it  ?  And  how  will  you  come  off  the  high  horse  ? "  And 
Fanny  drummed  on  the  table  energetically. 

"  Did  you  really  think  of  going,  Fanny?"  asked  Veronica. 
"  You  will  stay,  and  do  better  than  ever,  for  if  you  attempt 
to  go,  I  shall  bring  you  back." 

This  was  the  invitation  she  wanted,  and  was  satisfied 
with. 

"  I  must  give  up  flowers,"  said  Veronica,  "  of  course." 

"  I  wonder  if  we  shall  keep  pigs  this  fall  ?"  said  Fanny. 
"  Must  we  sit  in  the  free  seats  in  the  meeting-house  ? 
It  will  be  fine  for  the  boys  to  drop  paper  balls  on  our 
heads  from  the  gallery.  I'd  like  to  see  them  do  it, 
though,"  she  concluded,  as  if  she  felt  that  such  an  insult 
would  infringe  upon  her  rights. 


246  THE  MORGESONS. 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

IT  was  true.  Locke  Morgeson  had  been  insolvent  fof 
five  years.  All  this  time  he  had  thrown  ballast  out 

from  every  side  in  the  shape  of  various  ventures,  which 
he  trusted  would  lighten  the  ship,  that,  nevertheless,  drove 
steadily  on  to  ruin.  Then  he  steered  blindly,  straining  his 
credit  to  the  utmost ;  and  then — the  crash.  His  losses 
were  so  extended  and  gradual  that  the  public  were  not 
aware  of  his  condition  till  he  announced  it.  There  was  a 
general  exasperation  against  him.  The  Morgeson  family 
rose  up  with  one  accord  to  represent  the  public  mind, 
which  drove  Veronica  wild. 

"  Have  you  acted  wrongly,  father  ?  "  she  asked. 

"  I  have  confessed,  Verry,  will  that  suit  you  !  " 

Our  house  was  thronged  for  several  days.  "  Pay  us," 
cried  the  female  portion  of  his  creditors.  In  vain  father 
represented  that  he  was  still  young — that  his  business  days 
were  not  over — that  they  must  wait,  for  paid  they  should 
be.  "  Pay  us  now,  for  we  are  women,"  they  still  cried. 
Fanny  opened  the  doors  for  these  persons  as  wide  as  pos 
sible  when  they  came,  and  shut  them  with  a  bang  when 
they  went,  astonishing  them  with  a  satirical  politeness, 
or  confounding  them  with  an  impertinent  silence.  The  im 
portant  creditors  held  meetings  to  agree  what  should  be 
done,  and  effected  an  arrangement  by  which  his  property 
was  left  in  his  hands  for  three  years,  to  arrange  for  the 
benefit  of  his  creditors.  The  arrangement  proved  that  his 
integrity  was  not  suspected  ;  but  it  was  an  ingenious  pun 
ishment,  that  he  should  keep  in  sight,  improve,  or  change, 
for  others,  what  had  been  his  own.  I  was  glad  when  he 
decided  to  sell  his  real  estate  and  personal  property, 
and  trust  to  the  ships  alone,  but  would  build  no  more.  I 
begged  him  to  keep  our  house  till  Ben  should  return.  He 
consented  to  wait  ;  but  I  did  not  tell  Verry  what  I  had 
done.  All  the  houses  he  owned,  lots,  carriages,  horses,  do 
mestic  stock,  the  fields  lying  round  our  house — were  sold. 
When  he  began  to  sell,  the  fury  of  retrenchment  seized 
him,  and  he  laid  out  a  life  of  self-denial  for  us  three. 
Arthur's  ten  thousand  dollars  were  safe,  who  was  there 
fore  provided  for.  He  would  bring  wood  and  water  for  us; 


THE  MORGESONS.  247 

the  rest  we  must  do,  with  Fanny's  help.  We  could  dine  in 
the  kitchen,  and  put  our  beds  in  one  room  ;  by  shutting  up 
the  house  in  part,  we  should  have  less  labor  to  perform.  We 
attempted  to  carry  out  his  ideas,  but  Veronica  was  so  dread 
fully  in  Fanny's  way  and  mine,  that  we  were  obliged  to  en 
treat  her  to  resume  her  old  role.  As  for  Fanny,  she  was 
happy — working  like  a  beaver  day  and  night.  Father  was 
much  at  home,  and  took  an  extraordinary  interest  in  the 
small  details  that  Fanny  carried  out. 

When  Temperance  heard  of  these  arrangements,  she 
came  down  with  Abram  in  their  green  and  yellow  wagon. 
Temperance  drove  the  shaggy  old  white  horse,  for  Abram 
was  intrusted  with  the  care  of  a  meal  bag,  in  which  were 
fastened  a  cock  and  four  hens.  We  should  see,  she  said 
when  she  let  them  out,  whether  we  were  to  keep  hens  or  not. 
Was  Veronica  to  go  without  new-laid  eggs  ?  Had  he  sold 
the  cat,  she  sarcastically  inquired  of  father. 

"  Who  is  going  to  do  your  washing,  girls  ?  "  she  asked, 
taking  off  her  bonnet. 

"We  all  do  it." 

"Now  I  shall  die  a-laughing  !  "  But  she  contradicted 
herself  by  crying  heartily.  "  One  day  in  every  week,  I  tell 
you,  I  am  coming  ;  and  Fanny  and  I  can  do  the  washing  in 
a  jiffy." 

"  Sure,"  said  Abram,  "  you  can  ;  the  sass  is  in." 

"  Sass  or  no  sass,  I'm  coming." 

She  made  me  laugh  for  the  first  time  in  a  month.  I  was 
too  tired  generally  to  be  merry,  with  my  endeavors  to  carry 
out  father's  wishes,  and  keep  up  the  old  aspect  of  the  house. 
When  she  left  us  we  all  felt  more  cheerful.  Aunt  Merce 
wanted  to  come  home,  but  Verry  and  I  thought  she  had 
better  stay  at  Rosville.  We  could  not  deny  it  to  ourselves, 
that  home  was  sadly  altered,  or  that  we  were  melancholy  ; 
and  though  we  never  needed  her  more,  we  begged  her  not 
to  come.  Happily  father's  zeal  soon  died  away.  A  boy 
was  hired,  and  as  there  was  no  out-of-doors  work  for  him 
to  do,  he  relieved  Fanny,  who  in  her  turn  relieved  me. 
Finding  time  to  look  into  myself,  I  perceived  a  change  in 
my  estimation  of  father  ;  a  vague  impression  of  weakness  in 
him  troubled  me.  I  also  discovered  that  I  had  lost  my  at 
mosphere.  My  life  was  coarse,  hard,  colorless  !  I  lived  in 
an  insignificant  country  village  ;  I  was  poor.  My  theories 


248  THE  MQRGESONS. 

had  failed ;  my  practice  was  like  my  moods — variable. 
But  I  concluded  that  if  to-day  would  go  on  without 
bestowing  upon  me  sharp  pains,  depriving  me  of  sleep, 
mutilating  me  with  an  accident,  or  sending  a  disaster  to 
those  belonging  to  me,  I  would  be  content.  Arthur  held 
out  a  hope,  by  writing  me,  that  he  meant  to  support  me 
handsomely.  He  wished  me  to  send  him  some  shirt  studs  ; 
and  told  me  to  keep  the  red  horse.  He  had  heard  that 
I  was  very  handsome  when  I  was  in  Rosville.  A  girl  had 
asked  him  how  I  looked  now.  When  he  told  her  I  was 
handsomer  than  any  woman  Rosville  could  boast  of,  she 
laughed. 

October  had  gone,  and  we  had  not  heard  from  Ben. 
Veronica  came  to  my  room  of  nights,  and  listened  to  wind 
and  sea,  as  she  never  had  before.  Sometimes  she  was  there 
long  after  I  had  gone  to  bed,  to  look  out  of  the  windows. 
If  it  was  calm,  she  went  away  quietly  ;  if  the  sea  was  rough, 
she  was  sorrowful,  but  said  nothing.  The  lethargic  sum 
mer  had  given  way  to  a  boisterous  autumn  of  cold,  gray 
weather,  driving  rains,  and  hollow  gales.  At  last  he  came — 
to  Veronica  first.  He  gave  a  deep  breath  of  delight  when 
he  stood  again  on  the  hearth-rug,  before  our  now  unwonted 
parlor  fire.  The  sight  of  his  ruddy  face,  vigorous  form,  and 
gay  voice  made  me  as  merry  as  the  attendants  of  a  feast 
are  when  they  inhale  the  odor  of  the  viands  they  carry,  hear 
the  gurgle  of  the  wine  they  pour,  and  echo  the  laughter  of 
the  guests. 

There  was  much  to  tell  that  astonished  him,  but  he  could 
not  be  depressed  ;  everything  must  be  arranged  to  suit  us. 
He  would  buy  the  house,  provided  he  could  pay  for  it  in 
instalments.  Did  I  know  that  his  mother  had  docked  his 
allowance  as  soon  as  she  knew  that  he  would  marry  Verry  ? 

"  How  should  I  know  it  ? " 

I  had  not  heard  then  that  Desmond's  was  doubled,  when 
she  heard  his  intention  of  going  to  Spain. 

"  How  should  I  know  that  ?  " 

One  thing  I  should  learn,  however — and  that  was,  that 
Desmond  had  begged  his  mother  to  make  no  change  in  the 
disposition  of  her  income.  He  had  declined  the  extra 
allowance,  and  then  accepted  it,  to  offer  him — Ben.  Was 
not  that  astonishing  ? 

"  Did  you  take  it  ?  " 


THE  MORGESONS.  249 

"  No  ;  but  pa  did." 

All  he  could  call  his  was  fifteen  hundred  a  year.  Was 
that  enough  for  them  to  live  on,  and  pay  a  little  every  year 
for  the  house  ?  Could  we  all  live  there  together,  just  the 
same  ?  Would  we,  he  asked  father,  and  allow  him  to  be  an 
inmate  ? 

Father  shook  hands  with  him  so  violently  that  he  winced; 
and  Verry  crumpled  up  a  handful  of  his  tawny  locks  and 
kissed  them,  whereat  he  said  :  "  Are  you  grown  a  human 
woman  ?  " 

About  the  wedding  ?  He  could  only  stay  to  appoint  a 
time,  for  he  must  post  to  Belem.  It  must  be  very  soon. 

'  In  a  year  or  two,"  said  Verry. 

1  Verry  !  " 

'  In  three  weeks,  then." 

'  From  to-day  ?  " 

'  No,  that  will  be  the  date  of  the  wreck  of  the  Locke 
Morge son ;  but  three  weeks  from  to-morrow.  Must  we 
have  anybody  here,  Ben  ?  " 

"  Helen,  and  Alice,  Cassandra  ?  " 

"  Certainly." 

"  I  have  no  friends,"  said  Verry. 

"  What  will  you  wear,  Verry  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  Why,  this  dress,"  designating  her  old  black  silk.  Her 
eyes  filled  with  tears,  and  went  on  a  pilgrimage  toward  the 
unknown  heaven  where  our  mother  was.  She  could  only 
come  to  the  wedding  as  a  ghost.  I  imagined  her  flitting 
through  the  empty  spaces,  from  room  to  room,  scared  and 
troubled  by  the  pressure  of  mortal  life  around  her. 

"  I  shall  not  wear  white,"  Verry  said  hastily. 

The  very  day  Ben  went  to  Belem  one  of  father's  out 
standing  ships  arrived.  She  came  into  the  harbor  present 
ing  the  unusual  sight  of  trying  oil  on  deck.  Black  and 
greasy  from  hull  to  spar,  she  was  a  pleasant  sight,  for  she 
was  full  of  sperm  oil.  Little  boys  ran  down  to  the  house 
to  inform  us  of  that  fact  before  she  was  moored.  "  Wouldn't 
Mr.  Morgeson  be  all  right  now  that  his  luck  had  changed  ? " 
they  asked. 

At  supper  father  said  "  By  George  !  "  several  times,  by 
that  oath  resuming  something  of  his  old  self.  "  Those 
women  can  now  be  paid,"  he  said.  "  If  I  could  have  held 
out  till  now,  I  could  have  gone  on  without  failing.  This  is 


250  THE  MORGESONS. 

the  first  good  voyage  the  Oswego  ever  made  me  ;  if  another 
ship,  the  Adamant,  will  come  full  while  oil  is  high,  I  shall 
arrange  matters  with  my  creditors  before  the  three  years 
are  up.  To  hold  my  own  again — ah  !  I  never  will  venture 
all  upon  the  uncertain  field  of  the  sea." 

The  Oswegd's  captain  sent  us  a  box  of  shells  next  day, 
and  a  small  Portuguese  boy,  named  Manuel — a  handsome, 
black-eyed,  husky-voiced  fellow,  in  a  red  shirt,  which  was 
bound  round  his  waist  with  a  leather  belt,  from  which  hung 
a  sailor's  sheath-knife. 

"  He  is  volcanic,"  said  Verry. 

"  The  Portuguese  are  all  handsome,"  said  Fanny,  poking 
him,  to  see  if  he  would  notice  it.  But  he  did  not  remove 
his  eyes  from  Veronica. 

"He  shall  be  your  page,  Verry." 

The  next  night  a  message  came  to  us  that  Abram  was 
dying.  If  we  ever  meant  to  come,  Temperance  sent  word, 
some  of  us  might  come  now  ;  but  she  would  rather  have 
Mr.  Morgeson.  Fanny  insisted  upon  going  with  him  to 
carry  a  lantern.  Manuel  offered  her  his  knife,  when  he 
comprehended  that  she  was  going  through  a  dark  road. 

"  You  are  a  perfect  heathen.  There's  nothing  to  be  afraid 
of,  except  that  Mr.  Morgeson  may  walk  into  a  ditch  ;  will 
a  knife  keep  us  out  of  that  ?  " 

"  Knife  is  good — it  kills,"  he  said,  showing  his  white, 
vegetable-ivory  teeth. 

Verry  and  I  sat  up  till  they  returned,  at  two  in  the  morn 
ing.  Abram  had  died  about  midnight,  distressed  to  the 
last  with  worldly  cares.  "  He  asked,"  said  father,  "  if  I 
remembered  his  poor  boy,  whose  chest  never  came  home, 
and  wished  to  hear  some  one  read  a  hymn  ;  Temperance 
broke  down  when  I  read  it,  while  Fanny  cried  hysterically." 

"  I  was  freezing  cold,"  she  answered  haughtily. 

In  the  morning  Verry  and  I  started  for  Temperance's 
house  ;  but  she  waited  on  the  doorstep  till  I  had  inquired 
whether  we  were  wanted.  I  called  her  in,  for  Temperance 
asked  for  her  as  soon  as  she  saw  me. 

"  He  was  a  good  man,  girls,"  she  said  with  emphasis. 

"  Indeed  he  was." 

"  A  little  mean,  I  spose." 

I  put  in  a  demurrer  ;  her  face  cleared  instantly. 

"  He  thought  a  great  deal  of  your  folks." 


THE  MORGESONS.  251 

"  And  a  great  deal  of  you." 

"  Oh,  what  a  loss  I  have  met  with  !  He  had  just  bought 
a  first-rate  overcoat." 

"  But  Temperance,"  said  Verry,  with  a  lamentable  can 
dor,  "  you  can  come  back  now." 

"  Can't  you  wait  for  him  to  be  put  into  the  ground  ? " 
And  she  tried  to  look  shocked,  but  failed. 

A  friend  entered  with  a  doleful  face,  and  Temperance 
groaned  slightly. 

"  It  is  all  done  complete  now,  Mis  Handy.  He  looks  as 
easy  as  if  he  slept,  he  was  so  limber." 

"  Yes,  yes,"  answered  Temperance,  starting  up,  and  hur 
rying  us  out  of  the  room,  pinching  me,  with  a  significant 
look  at  Verry.  She  was  afraid  that  her  feelings  might  be 
distressed.  "  The  funeral  will  be  day  after  to-morrow. 
Don't  come  ;  your  father  will  be  all  that  must  be  here  of 
the  family.  I  shall  shut  up  the  house  and  come  straight  to 
you.  I  know  that  I  am  needed  ;  but  you  mustn't  say  a 
word  about  pay — I  can't  stand  it,  I  have  had  too  much 
affliction  to  be  pestered  about  wages." 

Verry  hugged  her,  and  Temperance  shed  the  honestest 
tears  of  the  day  then,  she  was  so  gratified  at  Verry's  fond 
ness.  Before  Abram  had  been  buried  a  week,  she  was  back 
again — a  fixture,  although  she  declared  that  she  had  only 
come  for  a  spell,  as  we  might  know  by  the  size  of  the  bun 
dle  she  had,  showing  us  one,  tied  in  a  blue  cotton  handker 
chief.  What  should  she  stay  from  her  own  house  for,  when 
as  good  a  man  as  ever  lived  left  it  to  her  ?  We  knew  that 
she  merely  comforted  a  tender  conscience  by  praising  the 
departed,  for  whom  she  had  small  respect  when  living. 
We  felt  her  brightening  influence,  but  Fanny  sulked,  feeling 
dethroned. 

Ben  Pickersgill  Somers  and  Veronica  Morgeson  were 
"  published."  Contrary  to  the  usual  custom,  Verry  went  to 
hear  her  own  banns  read  at  the  church.  She  must  do  all 
she  could,  she  told  me,  to  realize  that  she  was  to  be  mar 
ried  ;  had  I  any  thoughts  about  it,  with  which  I  might  aid 
her  ?  She  thought  it  strange  that  people  should  marry,  and 
could  not  decide  whether  it  was  the  sublimest  or  the  most 
inglorious  act  of  one's  life.  I  begged  her  to  think  about 
what  she  should  wear — the  time  was  passing.  Father  gave 
me  so  small  a  sum  for  the  occasion,  I  had  little  opportunity 


252  THE  MORGESONS. 

for  the  splendid  ;  but  I  purchased  what  Veronica  wanted  for 
a  dress,  and  superintended  the  making  of  it — black  lace  over 
lavender-colored  silk.  She  said  no  more  about  it  ;  but  I 
observed  that  she  put  in  order  all  her  possessions,  as  if  she 
were  going  to  undertake  a  long  and  uncertain  journey. 
Every  box  and  drawer  was  arranged.  All  her  clothes  were 
repaired,  refolded,  and  laid  away ;  every  article  was  re 
freshed  by  a  turn  or  shake-up.  She  made  her  room  a  mir 
acle  of  cleanliness.  What  she  called  rubbish  she  de 
stroyed — her  old  papers,  things  with  chipped  edges,  or 
those  that  were  defaced  by  wear.  She  went  once  to  Mil- 
ford  in  the  time,  and  bought  a  purple  Angola  rug,  which 
she  put  before  her  arm-chair,  and  two  small  silver  cups, 
with  covers ;  in  one  was  a  perfume  which  Ben  liked,  the 
other  was  empty.  Her  favorite  blank-books  were  laid  on  a 
shelf,  and  the  table,  with  its  inkstand  and  portfolio,  was 
pushed  against  the  wall.  The  last  ornament  which  she 
added  to  her  room  was  a  beautifully  woven  mat  of  ever 
greens,  with  which  she  concealed  the  picture  of  the  avenue 
and  the  nameless  man.  After  it  was  done,  she  inhabited  my 
room,  appearing  to  feel  at  home,  and  glad  to  have  me  with 
her.  As  the  time  drew  near,  she  grew  silent,  and  did  not 
play  at  all.  Temperance  watched  her  with  anxiety.  "  If 
ever  she  can  have  one  of  those  nervous  spells  again  she  will 
have  one  now,"  she  said.  "  Don't  let  her  dream.  I  am 
turning  myself  inside  out  to  keep  up  her  appetite." 

"  Do  you  ever  feel  worried  about  me,  Tempy  ?  " 

"  Lord  'a  marcy  !  you  great,  strong  thing,  why  should  I  ? 
May  be  you  do  want  a  little  praise.  I  never  saw  anybody 
get  along  as  well  as  you  do,  nowadays  ;  you  have  altered 
very  much  ;  I  never  would  have  believed  it." 

"  What  was  the  trouble  with  me  ? " 

"  /  always  stuck  up  for  you,  gracious  knows.  Do  you 
know  what  has  been  said  of  you  in  Surrey  ?  " 

"  No." 

''Then  I  shan't  tell  'you  ;  if  I  were  you,  though,  I 
shouldn't  trouble  myself  to  be  overpolite  to  the  folks  who 
have  come  and  gone  here,  nigh  on  to  twenty  years, — hang 
"em  ! " 

A  few  days  before  the  wedding  Aunt  Merce  and  Arthur 
came  home.  Arthur  was  shy  at  first  regarding  the  great 
change,  but  being  agreeably  disappointed,  grew  lively. 


THE  MORGESONS.  253 

I  perceived  that  Aunt  Merce  had  aged  since  mother's 
death  ;  her  manner  was  changed  ;  the  same  objects  no 
longer  possessed  an  interest.  She  looked  at  me  peniten- 
tially.  "  I  wish  I  could  say,"  she  said,  "  what  I  used  to  say 
to  you, — that  you  were  '  possessed.'  Now  that  there  is  no 
occasion  for  me  to  comprehend  people,  I  begin  to.  My  ed 
ucation  began  wrong  end  foremost.  I  think  Mary's  death 
has  taught  me  something.  Do  you  think  of  her  ?  She  was 
the  love  of  my  life." 

"  Women  do  keep  stupid  a  long  time  ;  but  I  think  they 
are  capable  of  growth,  beyond  the  period  when  men  cease 
to  grow  or  change." 

"  Oh,  I  don't  know  anything  about  men,  you  know." 

Temperance  and  I  cleaned  the  house,  opened  every  room, 
and  made  every  fire-place  ready  for  a  fire — a  fire  being  the 
chief  luxury  which  I  could  command.  Baking  went  on  up 
to  within  a  day  of  the  wedding,  under  Hepsey's  super 
vision,  who  had  been  summoned  as  a  helper  ;  Fanny  was 
busy  everywhere. 

"  Mr.  Morgeson,"  said  Temperance,  "  the  furniture  is  too 
darned  shabby  for  a  wedding." 

"It  is  not  mine,  you  must  remember." 

"  Plague  take  the  creditors  !  they  know  as  well  as  I  that 
you  turned  Surrey  from  a  herring-weir  into  a  whaling-port, 
and  that  the  houses  they  live  in  were  built  out  of  the  wages 
you  gave  them.  I  am  thankful  that  most  of  them  have 
water  in  their  cellars." 


CHAPTER   XXXIX. 

day  came.     Alice  Morgeson,  and  Helen  with  her 
X    baby,   arrived    the   night   before  ;    and   Ben  and  Mr. 
Somers  drove  from  Milford  early  in   the   afternoon. 
Mr.   Somers  was  affable  and    patronizing.      When    intro 
duced  to  Veronica,  he  betrayed  astonishment.     "  She  is  not 
like  you,  Cassandra.    Are  you  in  delicate  health,  my  dear  ! " 
addressing  her. 

"  I  have  a  peculiar  constitution,  I  believe." 
He  made  excuses  to  her  for  Mrs.  Somers  and  his  daugh 
ters  to  which  she  answered  not  a  word.     He  was  in  danger 
of  being  embarrassed,  and  I  enticed  him  away  from  her — 


254  THE  MORGESONS. 

not  before  she  whispered  gravely,  "  Why  did  he  come  ?  "  I 
went  over  the  house  with  him,  he  remarking  on  its  situa 
tion,  for  sun  and  shade,  and  protection  from,  or  exposure 
to,  the  winds  ;  and  tasting  the  water,  pronounced  it  excel 
lent.  He  thought  I  had  a  true  idea  of  hospitality  ;  the  fires 
everywhere  proclaimed  that.  Temperance  had  the  air  of  a 
retainer  ;  there  was  an  atmosphere  about  our  premises 
which  placed  them  at  a  distance  from  the  present.  Then 
Alice  came  to  my  assistance  and  entertained  him  so  well 
that  I  could  leave  him. 

We  had  invited  a  few  friends  and  relations  to  witness  the 
ceremony,  at  eight  o'clock.  I  had  been  consulted  so  often 
on  various  matters  that  it  was  dark  before  I  finished  my 
tasks.  The  last  was  to  arrange  some  flowers  I  had  ordered 
in  Milford.  I  kept  a  bunch  of  them  in  reserve  for  Verry's 
plate  ;  for  we  were  to  have  a  supper,  at  father's  request, 
who  thought  it  would  be  less  tiresome  to  feed  the  guests 
than  to  talk  to  them.  Verry  did  not  know  this,  though  she 
had  asked  several  times  why  we  were  all  so  busy. 

It  was  near  seven  when  I  went  upstairs  to  find  her. 
Temperance  had  sent  Manuel  and  Fanny  to  the  different 
rooms  with  tea,  bread  and  butter,  and  the  message  that  it 
was  all  we  were  to  have  at  present.  Ben  had  been  extremely 
silent  since  his  arrival,  and  disposed  to  reading.  I  looked 
over  his  shoulder  once,  and  saw  that  it  was  "  Scott's  Life 
of  Napoleon  "  he  perused  ;  and  an  hour  after,  being  obliged 
to  ask  him  a  question,  saw  him  still  at  the  same  page.  He 
was  now  dressing  probably.  Helen  and  Alice  were  in  their 
rooms.  Mr.  Somers  was  napping  on  the  parlor  sofa  ; 
father  was  meditating  at  his  old  post  in  the  dining-room 
and  smoking.  It  was  a  familiar  picture  ;  but  there  was  a 
rent  in  the  canvas  and  a  figure  was  missing — she  who  had 
been  its  light ! 

I  found  Verry  sound  asleep  on  the  sofa  in  my  room. 

A  glass  full  of  milk  was  on  the  floor  beside  her,  and  a 
plate  with  a  slice  of  bread.  The  lamp  had  been  lighted  by 
some  one,  and  carefully  shaded  from  her  face.  She  had 
been  restless,  I  thought,  for  her  hair  had  fallen  out  of  the 
comb  and  half  covered  her  face,  which  was  like  marble  in 
its  whiteness  and  repose.  Her  right  arm  was  extended  ;  I 
took  her  hand,  and  her  warm,  humid  fingers  closed  over 
mine. 


THE  MORGESONS.  255 

"  Wake  up,  Verry  ;  it  is  time  to  be  married." 

She  opened  her  eyes  without  stirring  and  fixed  them  upon 
me.  "  Do  you  know  any  man  who  is  like  Ben  ?  Or  was  it 
he  whom  I  have  just  left  in  the  dark  world  of  sleep  ? " 

"I  know  his  brother,  who  is  like  him,  but  dark  in  com 
plexion — and  his  hair  is  black." 

"  His  hair  is  not  black." 

I  rushed  out  of  the  room,  muttering  some  excuse,  came 
back  and  arranged  her  toilette  ;  but  she  remained  with  her 
arm  still  extended,  and  continued  : 

"  It  was  a  strange  place  where  we  met ;  curious,  dusty 
old  trees  grew  about  it.  He  was  cutting  the  back  of  one 
with  a  dagger,  and  the  pieces  he  carved  out  fell  to  the 
ground,  as  if  they  were  elastic.  He  made  me  pick  them 
up,  though  I  wished  to  listen  to  a  man  who  was  lying  under 
one  of  the  trees,  wrapped  in  a  cloak,  keeping  time  with  his 
dagger,  and  singing  a  wild  air. 

"  '  What  do  you  see  ?'  said  the  first. 

"  '  A  letter  on  every  piece,'  I  answered,  and  spelt  Cas 
sandra.  '  Are  you  Ben  transformed  ? '  I  asked,  for  he  had 
his  features,  his  air,  though  he  was  a  swarthy,  spare  man, 
with  black,  curly  hair,  dashed  with  gray  ;  but  he  pricked 
my  arm  with  his  dagger,  and  said,  '  Go  on.'  I  picked  up 
the  rest,  and  spelt  '  Somers." 

" '  Cassandra  Somers !  now  tell  her,'  he  whispered, 
turning  me  gently  from  him,  with  a  hand  precisely  like 
Ben's." 

"  No,  it  is  handsomer,"  I  muttered. 

"  Before  me  was  a  space  of  sea.  Before  I  crossed  I 
wanted  to  hear  that  wild  music  ;  but  your  voice  broke  my 
dream." 

She  sat  up  and  unbuttoned  her  sleeve.  As  I  live,  there 
was  a  red  mark  on  her  arm  above  her  elbow  ! 

I  crushed  my  hands  together  and  set  my  teeth,  for  I 
would  have  kissed  the  mark  and  washed  it  with  my  tears. 
But  Verry  must  not  be  agitated  now.  She  divined  my  feel 
ings  for  the  first  time  in  her  life.  "  I  have  indeed  been  in 
a  long  sleep,  as  far  as  you  are  concerned  ;  this  means  some 
thing.  My  blindness  is  removed  by  a  dream.  Do  you 
despise  me  ?  "  Two  large,  limpid  tears  dropped  down  her 
smooth  cheeks  without  ruffling  the  expression  of  her  face. 

"  I   have   prided   myself  upon  my  delicacy  of  feeling. 


256  THE  MORGESONS. 

You  may  have  remarked  that  I  considered  myself  your 
superior  ? " 

"You  are  all  wrong.  I  have  no  delicate  feelings  at  all  ; 
they  are  as  coarse  and  fibrous  as  the  husk  of  a  cocoanut. 
Do  for  heaven's  sake  get  up  and  let  me  dress  you." 

She  burst  into  laughter.     "  Bring  me  some  water,  then." 

I  brought  her  a  bowl  full,  and  stood  near  her  with  a 
towel  ;  but  she  splashed  it  over  me,  and  dribbled  her  hands 
in  it  till  I  was  in  despair.  I  took  it  away  and  wiped  her 
face,  which  looked  at  me  so  childly,  so  elfish,  so  willful,  and 
so  tenderly,  that  I  took  it  between  my  hands  and  kissed  it. 
I  pulled  her  up  to  a  chair,  for  she  was  growing  willful  every 
moment ;  but  she  must  be  humored.  I  combed  her  hair, 
put  on  her  shoes  and  stockings,  and  in  short  dressed  her. 
Father  came  up  and  begged  me  to  hurry,  as  everybody  had 
come.  I  sent  him  for  Ben,  who  came  with  a  pale,  happy 
face  and  shining  eyes.  She  looked  at  him  seriously.  "  I 
like  you  best,"  she  said. 

"  It  is  time  you  said  that.  Oh,  Verry  !  how  lovely  you 
are  ! " 

"  I  feel  so." 

"  Come,  come,"  urged  father. 

"I  do  not  want  these  gloves,"  she  said,  dropping  them. 

Ben  slipped  on  the  third  finger  of  her  left  hand  a  plain 
ring.  She  kissed  it,  and  he  looked  as  if  about  to  be  trans 
lated. 

"  Forever,  Verry  ? " 

"  Forever." 

"  Wait  a  moment,"  I  said,  "  I  want  a  collar,"  giving  a 
glance  into  the  glass.  What  a  starved,  thin,  haggard  face 
I  saw,  with  its  border  of  pale  hair !  Whose  were  those 
wide,  pitiful,  robbed  eyes? 

I  hurried  into  the  room  in  advance  to  show  them  their 
place  in  front  of  a  screen  of  plants.  When  they  entered 
the  company  rose,  and  the  ceremony  was  performed. 
Veronica's  dress  was  commented  upon  and  not  approved 
of ;  being  black,  it  was  considered  ominous.  She  looked 
like  a  'cloud  with  a  silver  lining.'  I  also  made  my  com 
ments.  Temperance,  whose  tearful  eyes  were  fixed  on  her 
darling,  was  unconscious  that  she  had  taken  from  her 
pocket,  and  was  flourishing,  a  large  red  and  yellow  silk 
handkerchief,  while  the  cambric  one  she  intended  to  use 


THE  MORGESONS.  257 

was  neatly  folded  in  her  left  hand.  She  wore  the  famous 
plum-colored  silk,  old  style,  which  had  come  into  a  fortune 
in  the  way  of  wrinkles.  A  large  bow  of  black  ribbon 
testified  that  she  was  in  mourning.  Hepsey  rubbed  her 
thumb  across  her  fingers  with  the  vacant  air  of  habit.  I 
glanced  at  Alice  ;  she  was  looking  intently  at  Fanny,  whose 
eyes  were  fixed  upon  father.  A  strange  feeling  of  an 
noyance  troubled  me,  but  the  ceremony  was  over.  Arthur 
congratulated  himself  on  having  a  big  brother.  Ben  was 
so  pale,  and  wore  so  exalted  an  expression,  that  he  agitated 
me  almost  beyond  control. 

After  the  general  shaking  of  hands,  there  came  retorts 
for  me.  "  When  shall  we  have  occasion  to  congratulate 
you?"  And,  "You  are  almost  at  the  corner."  And, 
"  Your  traveling  from  home  seems  only  to  have  been  an 
advantage  to  Veronica." 

"  I  tell  you,  Cousin  Sue,"  said  Arthur,  who  overheard  the 
last  remark,  "  that  you  don't  know  what  they  say  of  Cas 
sandra  in  Rosville.  She's  the  biggest  beauty  they  ever  had, 
and  had  lots  of  beaus." 

A  significant  expression  passed  over  Cousin  Sue's  face, 
which  was  noticed  by  Alice  Morgeson,  who  colored  deeply. 

"  Have  you  not  forgotten  ?"  I  asked  her. 

"  It  was  of  you  I  thought,  not  myself.  I  cannot  tell  you 
how  utterly  the  past  has  gone,  or  how  insignificant  the 
result  has  proved." 

"  Alice,"  said  father,  "can  you  carve  ?  " 

"Splendidly." 

"  Come  and  sit  at  the  foot  of  my  table  ;  Mr.  Somers  will 
take  charge  of  the  smaller  one." 

"  With  pleasure." 

"  Slip  out,"  whispered  Fanny,  "  and  look  at  the  table  ; 
Temperance  wants  you." 

"  For  the  Lord's  sake  !  "  cried  Temperance,  "  say  whether 
things  are  ship-shape." 

I  was  surprised  at  the  taste  she  had  displayed,  and  told 
her  so. 

"  For  once  I  have  tried  to  do  my  best,"  she  said  ;  "  all 
for  Verry.  Call  'em  in ;  the  turkeys  will  be  on  in  a 
whiffle." 

Tables  were  set  in  the  hall,  as  well  as  in  the  dining-room. 
"  They  must  sit  down,"  she  continued,  "  so  that  they  may 


258  THE  MORGESONS. 

eat  their  victuals  in  peace."  The  supper  was  a  relief  to 
Veronica,  and  I  blessed  father's  forethought.  Nobody  was 
exactly  merry,  but  there  was  a  proper  cheerfulness.  Tem 
perance,  Fanny,  and  Manuel  were  in  attendance  ;  the  latter 
spilled  a  good  deal  of  coffee  on  the  carpet  in  his  enjoyment 
of  the  scene  ;  and  when  he  saw  Veronica  take  the  flowers 
in  her  hand,  he  exclaimed,  "  Santa  Maria  !  " 

Everybody  turned  to  look  at  him. 

"What  are  you  doing  here,  Manuel?"  asked  Ben. 

"  I  wait  on  the  senoritas,"  he  answered.  "  Take  plum- 
duff?" 

Everybody  laughed. 

"  Do  you  like  widows  ?  "  whispered  Fanny  at  the  back  of 
my  chair.  I  made  a  sign  to  her  to  attend  to  her  business, 
but,  as  she  suggested,  looked  at  Alice.  At  that  moment 
she  and  father  were  drinking  wine  together.  I  thought  her 
handsomer  than  ever ;  she  had  expanded  into  a  fair, 
smooth  middle  age. 

The  talking  and  clattering  melted  vaguely  into  my  ear?  ; 
I  was  a  lay-figure  in  the  scene,  and  my  soul  wandered  else 
where.  Mr.  Somers  began  to  fidget  gently,  which  father 
perceiving,  rose  from  the  table.  Soon  after  the  guests 
departed.  The  remains  of  the  feast  vanished  ;  the  fires 
burnt  down,  "  winding  sheets  "  wrapped  the  flame  of  the 
candles,  and  suppressed  gaping  set  in. 

The  flowers,  left  to  themselves,  began  to  give  out  odors 
which  perfumed  the  rooms.  I  went  about  extinguishing  the 
waning  candles  and  stifling  the  dying  fires,  finished  my  work, 
and  was  going  upstairs  when  I  heard  Veronica  playing,  and 
stopped  to  listen.  It  was  not  a  paean  nor  a  lament  that 
she  played,  but  a  fluctuating,  vibratory  air,  expressive  of 
mutation.  I  hung  over  the  stair-railing  after  she  had 
ceased,  convinced  that  she  had  been  playing  for  herself 
a  farewell,  which  freed  me  from  my  bond  to  her.  Mr. 
Somers  came  along  the  hall  with  a  candle,  and  I  waited  to 
ask  him  if  I  could  do  anything  for  his  comfort. 

"  My  dear,"  he  said  with  apprehension,  "  your  sister  is  a 
genius,  I  think." 

"  In  music — yes." 

"  What  a  deplorable  thing  for  a  woman  !  " 

"A  woman  of  genius  is  but  a  heavenly  lunatic,  or  an 
anomaly  sphered  between  the  sexes  ;  do  you  agree  ?  " 


THE  MORGESONS.  259 

He  laughed,  and  pushed  his  spectacles  up  on  his  fore 
head. 

"  My  dear,  I  am  astonished  that  Ben's  choice  fell  as  it 
did—" 

"Good-night,  sir,"  I  said  so  loudly  that  he  almost 
dropped  his  candle,  and  I  retired  to  my  room,  taking  a 
chair  by  the  fire,  with  a  sigh  of  relief.  After  a  while  Ben 
and  Veronica  came  up. 

"  It  is  a  cold  night,"  I  remarked. 

"I  am  in  an  enchanted  palace,"  said  Ben,  "where  there 
is  no  weather." 

"  Gassy,  will  you  take  these  pins  out  of  my  hair  ?  "  asked 
Verry,  seating  herself  in  an  easy-chair.  "  Ben,  we  will  ex 
cuse  you." 

"  How  good  of  you."  He  strode  across  the  passage,  went 
into  her  room,  and  shut  the  door. 

"There,  Verry,  I  have  unbound  your  hair." 

"  But  I  want  to  talk." 

I  took  her  hand,  and  led  her  out.  She  stood  before  her 
door  for  a  moment  silently,  and  then  gave  a  little  knock. 
No  answer  came.  She  knocked  again  ;  the  same  silence  as 
before.  At  last  she  was  obliged  to  open  it  herself,  and  en 
ter  without  any  bidding. 

"Which  will  rule?"  I  thought,  as  I  slipped  down  the 
back  stairs,  and  listened  at  the  kitchen  door.  I  heard  noth 
ing.  Finding  an  old  cloak  in  the  entry,  I  wrapped  myself 
in  it  and  left  the  house.  The  moon  was  out-riding  black, 
scudding  clouds,  and  the  wind  moaned  round  the  sea, 
which  looked  like  a  vast,  wrinkled  serpent  in  the  moonlight. 

I  walked  to  Gloster  Point,  and  rested  under  the  lee  of  the 
lighthouse,  but  could  not,  when  I  made  the  attempt,  see  to 
read  the  inscription  inside  my  watch,  by  the  light  of  the 
lantern.  I  must  have  fallen  asleep  from  fatigue,  still  hold 
ing  it  in  my  hand  ;  for  when  I  started  homeward,  there  was 
a  pale  reflection  of  light  in  the  east,  and  the  sea  was  creep 
ing  quietly  toward  it  with  a  murmuring  morning  song. 


260  THE  MORGESONS. 


CHAPTER   XL. 

I  LOOKED  across  the  bay  from  my  window.  "  The  snow 
is  making  "  Pawshee's  Land  "  white  again,  and  I  remain 

this  year  the  same.  No  change,  no  growth  or  develop 
ment  !  The  fulfillment  of  duty  avails  me  nothing  ;  and  self- 
discipline  has  passed  the  necessary  point." 

I  struck  the  sash  with  my  closed  hand,  for  I  would  now 
give  my  life  a  new  direction,  and  it  was  fettered.  But  I 
would  be  resolute,  and  break  the  fetters  ;  had  I  not  en 
dured  a  "  mute  case  "  long  enough  ?  Manuel,  who  had  been 
throwing  snowballs  against  the  house,  stopped,  and  looked 
toward  the  gate,  and  then  ran  toward  it.  A  pair  of  tired, 
splashed  horses  dashed  down  the  drive.  Manuel  had  the 
reins,  and  Ben  was  beside  him,  reeling  slightly  on  the  seat 
of  the  wagon.  I  ran  down  to  meet  him  ;  he  had  been  on  a 
trip  to  Belem,  where  he  never  went  except  when  he  wanted 
money. 

"  I  have  some  news  for  you,"  he  said,  putting  his  arm  in 
mine,  as  he  jumped  from  the  wagon.  "  Come  in,  and  pull 
off  my  boots,  Manuel."  I  brought  a  chair  for  him,  and 
waited  till  his  boots  were  off.  "  Bring  me  a  glass  of 
brandy." 

I  stamped  my  foot.  Verry  entered  with  a  book.  "  Ah, 
Verry,  darling,  come  here." 

"  Why  do  you  drink  brandy  ?  Have  you  over-driven  the 
horses  ? " 

He  drank  the  brandy.  She  nodded  kindly  to  him,  shut 
her  book,  and  slipped  out,  without  approaching  him. 

"  That's  her  way,"  he  said,  staring  hard  at  me.  "  She 
always  says  in  the  same  unmoved  voice,  '  Why  do  you  drink 
brandy  ? ' ' 

"  And  then — she  will  not  come  to  kiss  you." 

"  The  child  is  dead,  for  the  first  thing.  (Cigar,  Manuel.) 
Second,  I  was  possessed  to  come  home  by  the  way  of  Ros- 
ville.  When  did  your  father  go  away,  Cass  ?  " 

I  felt  faint,  and  sat  down. 

"  Ah,  we  all  have  a  weakness ;  does  yours  overcome 
you  ? " 

"  He  went  three  days  ago." 


THE  MORGESONS.  261 

"  I  saw  him  at  Alice  Morgeson's." 

"Arthur?" 

"He  didn't  go  to  see  Arthur.  He  will  marry  Alice,  and 
I  must  build  my  house  now." 

A  devil  ripped  open  my  heart ;  its  fragments  flew  all 
over  me,  blinding  and  deafening  me. 

"He  will  be  home  to-night." 

"  Very  well." 

"  What  shall  you  say,  Cassy  ?  " 

"  Expose  that  little  weakness  to  him." 

"  When  will  you  learn  real  life  ?  " 

"  Please  ask  him,  when  he  comes,  if  he  will  see  me  in 
my  room. " 

I  waited  there.  My  cup  was  filled  at  last.  My  sin 
swam  on  the  top. 

Father  came  in  smoking,  and  taking  a  chair  between  his 
legs,  sat  opposite  me,  and  tapped  softly  the  back  of  it  with 
his  fingers.  "  You  sent  for  me  ?  " 

"  I  wanted  to  tell  you  that  Charles  Morgeson  loved  me 
from  the  first,  and  you  remember  that  I  stayed  by  him  to 
the  last." 

"What  more  is  there?"  knocking  over  the  chair,  and 
seizing  me  ;  "tell  me." 

His  eyes,  that  were  bloodshot  with  anger,  fastened  on 
my  mouth.  "  I  know,  though,  damn  him !  I  know  his 
cunning.  Was  Alice  aware  of  this  ? "  And  he  pushed 
me  backward. 

"All." 

An  expression  of  pain  and  disappointment  crossed  his 
face  ;  he  ground  his  teeth  fiercely. 

"  Don't  marry  her,  father  ;  you  will  kill  me  if  you  do  !  " 

"  Must  you  alone  have  license?" 

He  resumed  his  cigar,  which  he  picked  up  from  the  floor. 

"  It  would  seem  that  we  have  not  known  each  other. 
What  evasiveness  there  is  in  our  natures  !  Your  mother 
was  the  soul  of  candor,  yet  I  am  convinced  I  never  knew 
her." 

"  If  you  bring  Alice  here,  I  must  go.  We  cannot  live 
together." 

"  I  understand  why  she  would  not  come  here.  She  said 
that  she  must  see  you  first.  She  is  in  Milford." 

He  knocked  the  ashes  from  his  cigar,  looked  round  the 


262  THE  MORGESONS. 

room,  and  then  at  me,  who  wept  bitterly.  His  face  con 
tracted  with  a  spasm. 

"  We  were  married  two  days  ago."  And  turning  from 
me  quickly,  he  left  the  room. 

I  was  never  so  near  groveling  on  the  face  of  the  earth 
as  then  ;  let  me  but  fall,  and  I  was  sure  that  I  never  should 
rise. 

Ben  knew  it,  but  left  it  to  me  to  tell  Veronica. 

My  grief  broke  all  bounds,  and  we  changed  places;  she 
tried  to  comfort  me,  forgetting  herself. 

"  Let  us  go  away  to  the  world's  end  with  Ben."  But  sud 
denly  recollecting  that  she  liked  Alice,  she  cried,  "  What 
shall  I  do?" 

What  could  she  do,  but  offer  an  unreasoning  opposition  ? 
Aunt  Merce  cried  herself  sick,  fond  as  she  was  of  Alice, 
and  Temperance  declared  that  if  she  hadn't  married  a 
widower  herself,  she  would  put  in  an  oar.  Anyhow,  she 
hadn't  married  a  man  with  grown-up  daughters. 

"  What  ails  Fanny  ?  "  she  asked  me  the  next  day.  "  She 
looks  like  a  froze  pullet." 

"  Where  is  she  now  ?" 

"  Making  the  beds." 

Temperance  knew  well  what  was  the  matter,  but  was  too 
wise  to  interfere.  I  found  her,  not  bed-making,  but  in  a 
spare  room,  staring  at  the  wall.  She  looked  at  me  with  dry 
eyes,  bit  her  lips,  and  folded  her  hands  across  her  chest, 
after  her  old,  defiant  fashion.  I  did  not  speak. 

"  It  is  so,"  she  said  ;  "  you  need  not  tear  me  to  pieces 
with  your  eyes,  I  can  confess  it  to  you,  for  you  are  as  I  am. 
I  love  him  !  "  And  she  got  up  to  shake  her  fist  in  my  face. 
"  My  heart  and  brain  and  soul  are  as  good  as  hers,  and  he 
knows  it." 

I  could  not  utter  a  word. 

"  I  know  him  as  you  never  knew  him,  and  have  for  years, 
^since  I  was  that  starved,  poor-house  brat  your  mother  took. 
'Don't  trouble  yourself  to  make  a  speech  about  ingratitude. 
I  know  that  your  mother  was  good  and  merciful,  and  that 
I  should  have  worshiped  her  ;  but  I  never  did.  Do  you 
suppose  I  ever  thought  he  was  perfect,  as  the  rest  of  you 
thought  ?  He  is  full  of  faults.  I  thought  he  was  depend 
ant  on  me.  He  knows  how  I  feel.  Oh,  what  shall  I  do  ? " 
She  threw  up  her  arms,  and  dropped  on  the  floor  in  a  hys- 


THE  MORGESONS.  263 

teric  fit.  I  locked  the  door,  and  picked  her  up.  "  Come 
out  of  it,  Fanny  ;  I  shall  stay  here  till  you  do." 

By  dint  of  shaking  her,  and  opening  the  window,  she  be 
gan  to  come  to.  After  two  or  three  fearful  laughs  and 
shudders,  she  opened  her  eyes.  She  saw  my  compassion, 
and  tears  fell  in  torrents  ;  I  cried  too.  The  poor  girl 
kissed  my  hands  ;  a  new  soul  came  into  her  face. 

"  Oh,  Fanny,  bear  it  as  well  as  you  can  !  You  and  I  will 
be  friends." 

"  Forgive  me  !  I  was  always  bad  ;  I  am  now.  If  that 
woman  comes  here,  I'll  stab  her  with  Manuel's  knife." 

"  Pooh  !  The  knife  is  too  rusty  ;  it  would  give  her  the 
lockjaw.  Besides,  she  will  never  come.  I  know  her.  She 
is  already  more  than  half-way  to  meet  me  ;  but  I  shall  not 
perform  my  part  of  the  journey,  and  she  will  return." 

"  You  don't  say  so  !  "  her  ancient  curiosity  reviving. 

"  Manuel  keeps  it  sharp,"  she  said  presently,  relapsing 
into  jealousy. 

"  You  are  a  fool.     Have  you  eaten  anything  to-day  ? " 

"  I  can't  eat." 

"  That's  the  matter  with  you — an  empty  stomach  is  the 
cause  of  most  distressing  pangs." 

Ben  urged  me  to  go  to  Milford  to  meet  Alice,  and  to  ask 
her  to  come  to  our  house.  But  father  said  no  more  to  me 
on  the  subject.  Neither  did  Veronica.  In  the  afternoon 
they  drove  over  to  Milford,  returning  at  dusk.  She  refused 
to  come  with  them,  Ben  said,  and  never  would  probably. 
"You  have  thrown  out  your  father  terribly." 

"You  notice  it,  do  you  ?" 

"  It  is  pretty  evident." 

"  What  is  your  opinion  ?  " 

He  was  about  to  condemn,  when  he  recollected  his  own 
interference  in  my  life.  "  Ah  !  you  have  me.  I  think  you 
are  right,  as  far  as  the  past  which  relates  to  Alice  is  con 
cerned.  But  if  she  chooses  to  forget,  why  don't  you  ? 
We  do  much  that  is  contrary  to  our  moral  ideas,  to  make 
people  comfortable.  Besides,  if  we  do  not  lay  our  ghosts, 
our  closets  will  be  overcrowded." 

"  We  may  determine  some  things  for  ourselves,  irrespec 
tive  of  consequences." 

"  Well,  there  is  a  mess  of  it." 

Fanny  had  watched  for  their  return,  counting  on  an  ac- 


264  THE  MORGESONS. 

cess  of  misery,  for  she  believed  that  Alice  would  come  also. 
It  was  what  she  would  have  done.  Rage  took  possession  of 
her  when  she  saw  father  alone.  She  planted  herself 
before  him,  in  my  presence,  in  a  contemptuous  attitude. 
He  changed  color,  and  then  her  mood  changed. 

"  What  shall  I  do  ?  "  she  asked  piteously. 

I  tried  to  get  away  before  she  made  any  further  progress  ; 
but  he  checked  me,  dreading  the  scene  which  he  foreboded, 
without  comprehending. 

"  Fanny,"  he  said  harshly,  but  with  a  confused  face, 
"  you  mistake  me." 

"  Not  I  ;  it  was  your  wife  and  children  who  mistook  you." 

"  What  is  it  you  would  say  ?  " 

"  You  have  let  me  be  your  slave." 

"  It  is  not  true,  I  hope — what  your  behavior  indicates?" 

I  forgave  him  everything  then.  Fanny  had  made  a  mis 
take.  He  had  only  behaved  very  selfishly  toward  her,  with 
out  having  any  perception  of  her — that  was  all !  She  was 
confounded,  stared  at  him  a  moment,  and  rushed  out. 
That  interview  settled  her  ;  she  was  a  different  girl  from 
that  day. 

"  Father,  you  will  go  to  Rosville,  and  be  rich  again.  Can 
you  buy  this  house  from  Ben,  for  me  ?  A  very  small  in 
come  will  suffice  me  and  Fanny,  for  you  may  be  sure  that  I 
shall  keep  her.  Temperance  will  live  with  Verry  ;  Ben  will 
build,  now  that  his  share  of  his  grandfather's  estate  will 
come  to  him." 

"  Very  well,"  he  said  with  a  sigh,  "  I  will  bring  it  about." 

"  It  is  useless  for  us  to  disguise  the  fact — I  have  lost  you. 
You  are  more  dead  to  me  than  mother  is." 

"  You  say  so." 

It  was  the  truth.  I  was  the  only  one  of  the  family  who 
never  went  to  Rosville.  Aunt  Merce  took  up  her  abode 
with  Alice,  on  account  of  Arthur,  whom  she  idolized.  When 
father  was  married  again,  the  Morgeson  family  denounced 
him  for  it,  and  for  leaving  Surrey  ;  but  they  accepted  his 
invitations  to  Rosville,  and  returned  with  glowing  accounts 
of  his  new  house  and  his  hospitality. 

By  the  next  June,  Ben's  house  was  completed  and  they 
moved.  Its  site  was  a  knoll  to  the  east  of  our  house,  which 
Veronica  had  chosen.  Her  rooms  were  toward  the  orchard, 
and  Ben's  commanded  a  view  of  the  sea.  He  had  not  ven- 


THE  MORGESONS.  265 

tured  to  intrude,  he  told  her,  upon  the  Northern  Lights,  and 
she  must  not  bother  him  about  his  boat-house  or  his  pier. 
They  were  both  delighted  with  the  change,  and  kept  house 
like  children.  Temperance  indulged  their  whims  to  the 
utmost,  though  she  thought  Ben's  new-fangled  notions  were 
silly  ;  but  they  might  keep  him  from  something  worse.  This 
something  was  a  shadow  which  frightened  me,  though  I 
fought  it  off.  I  was  weary  of  trouble,  and  shut  my  eyes  as 
long  as  possible.  Whenever  Ben  went  from  home,  and  he 
often  drove  to  Milford,  or  to  some  of  the  towns  near,  he 
came  back  disordered  with  drink.  At  the  sight  my  hopes 
would  sink.  But  they  rose  again,  he  was  so  genial,  so  lov 
ing,  so  calmly  contented  afterward.  As  Verry  never  spoke 
of  it  either  to  Temperance  or  me,  I  imagined  she  was  not 
troubled  much.  She  could  not  feel  as  I  felt,  for  she  knew 
nothing  of  the  Bellevue  Pickersgill  family  history. 

The  day  they  moved  was  a  happy  one  for  me.  I  was  at 
last  left  alone  in  my  own  house,  and  I  regained  an  absolute 
self-possession,  and  a  sense  of  occupation  I  had  long  been  a 
stranger  to.  My  ownership  oppressed  me,  almost,  there  was 
so  much  liberty  to  realize. 

I  had  an  annoyance,  soon  after  I  came  into  sole  possession. 
Father's  business  was  not  yet  settled,  and  he  came  to  Surrey. 
He  was  paying  his  debts  in  full,  he  told  me,  eking  out  what 
he  lacked  himself  with  the  property  of  Alice.  He  could  not 
have  used  much  of  it,  however,  for  the  vessels  that  were  out 
at  the  time  of  the  failure  came  home  with  good  cargoes.  I 
fancied  that  he  had  more  than  one  regret  while  settling  his 
affairs  ;  that  he  missed  the  excitement  and  vicissitudes  of  a 
maritime  business.  Nothing  disagreeable  arose  between  us, 
till  I  happened  to  ask  him  what  were  the  contents  of  a  box 
which  had  arrived  the  day  before. 

"  Something  Alice  sent  you  ;  shall  we  open  it  ?  " 

"I  made  no  answer  ;  but  it  was  opened,  and  he  took  out 
a  sea-green  and  white  velvet  carpet,  with  a  scarlet  leaf  on  • 
it,  and  a  piece  of  sea-green  and  white  brocade  for  curtains. 
Had  she  sought  the  world  over,  she  could  have  found  noth 
ing  to  suit  me  so  well. 

"  She  thought  that  Verry  might  have  a  fancy  for  some  of 
the  old  furniture,  and  that  you  would  accept  these  in  its 
place." 

"  There's  nothing  here  to  match  this  splendor,  and  I  can- 


266  THE  MORGESONS. 

not  bear  to  make  a  change.     Verry  must  have  them,  for  she 
took  nothing  from  me." 
"Just  as  you  please." 


CHAPTER  XLI. 

A I  THAT  a  hot  day  !  "  said  Fanny.     "Every  door  and 
V V    window  is  open.     There  is  not  a  breath  of  air." 

"  It  will  be  calm  all  day,"  I  said.  "  We  have  two 
or  three  days  like  this  in  a  year.  Give  me  another  cup  of 
coffee.  Is  it  nine  yet  ?" 

"  Nearly.  I  ought  to  go  to  Hepsey's  to-day.  She  wont 
be  able  to  leave  her  bed,  the  heat  weakens  her  so." 

"  Do  go.  How  still  it  is  !  The  shadows  of  the  trees  on 
the  Neck  reach  almost  from  shore  to  shore,  and  there's  a 
fish-boat  motionless." 

"The  boat  was  there  when  I  got  up." 

"  Everything  is  blue  and  yellow,  or  blue  and  white." 

"  How  your  hair  waves  this  morning  !  It  is  handsomer 
than  ever." 

I  went  to  the  glass  with  my  cup  of  coffee.  "  I  look 
younger  in  the  summer." 

"  What's  the  use  of  looking  younger  here  ?  "  she  asked 
gruffly.  "  You  never  see  a  man." 

'  I  see  Ben  coming  with  Verry,  and  Manuel  behind." 

'Hillo  ! "  cried  Ben,  pulling  up  his  horses  in  front  of  the 
window.  "  We  are  going  on  a  picnic.  Wont  you  go  ?  " 

'  How  far  ?  " 

'  Fifteen  or  twenty  miles." 

'  Go  on  ;  I  had  rather  imprison  the  splendid  day  here." 

'  There's  nothing  for  dinner,"  said  Fanny. 

'  The  fish-boat  may  come  in,  in  time." 

'  Will  three  o'clock  do  for  you  ?  If  so,  I'll  stay  with 
Hepsey  till  then." 

"  Four  will  answer  ?  " 

She  cleared  away  my  breakfast  things  and  left  me.  I  sat 
by  the  window  an  hour,  looking  over  the  water,  my  thoughts 
drifting  through  a  golden  haze,  and  then  went  up  to  my 
room  and  looked  out  again.  If  I  turned  my  eyes  inside 
the  walls,  I  was  aware  of  the  yearning,  yawning  empty  void 
within  me,  which  I  did  not  like.  I  sauntered  into  Verry's 


THE  MOKGESONS.  267 

room,  to  see  if  any  clouds  were  coming  up  from  the  north. 
There  were  none.  The  sun  had  transfixed  the  sky,  and 
walked  through  its  serene  blue,  "  burning  without  beams." 
Neither  bird  nor  insect  chirped  ;  they  were  hid  from  the 
radiant  heat  in  tree  and  sod.  I  went  back  again  to  my  own 
window.  The  subtle  beauty  of  these  inorganic  powers 
stirred  me  to  mad  regret  and  frantic  longing.  I  stretched 
out  my  arms  to  embrace  the  presence  which  my  senses 
evoked. 

It  would  be  better  to  get  a  book,  I  concluded,  and 
hunted  up  Barry  Cornwall's  songs.  With  it  I  would  go  to  the 
parlor,  which  was  shaded.  I  turned  the  leaves  going  down, 
and  went  in  humming  : 

"Mount  on  the  dolphin  Pleasure,"  and  threw  myself  on 
the  sofa  beside — Desmond  ! 

I  dropped  Barry  Cornwall. 

"  I  have  come,"  he  said,  in  a  voice  deathly  faint. 

"  How  old  you  have  grown,  Desmond  !  " 

"  But  I  have  taken  such  pains  with  my  hands  for  you  ! 
You  said  they  were  handsome  ;  are  they  ?  " 

I  kissed  them. 

He  was  so  spare,  and  brown,  and  his  hair  was  quite  gray  ! 
Even  his  mustache  looked  silvery. 

"  Two  years  to-day  since  I  have  worn  the  watch, 
Desmond." 

He  took  one  exactly  like  it  from  his  pocket,  and  showed 
me  the  inscription  inside. 

"  And  the  ruby  ring,  on  the  guard  ? " 

"  It  is  gone,  you  see  ;  you  must  put  one  there  now." 

"  Forgive  me." 

"  Ah,  Gassy  !  I  couldn't  come  till  now.  You  see  what 
battles /must  have  had  since  I  saw  you.  It  took  me  so  long 
to  break  my  cursed  habits.  I  was  afraid  of  myself,  afraid  to 
come  ;  but  I  have  tried  myself  to  the  utmost,  and  hope  I  am 
worthy  of  you.  Will  you  trust  me  ?  " 

"  I  am  yours,  as  I  always  have  been." 

"I  have  eaten  an  immense  quantity  of  oil  and  garlic,"  he 
said  with  a  sigh.  "  But  Spain  is  a  good  place  to  reform  in. 
How  is  Ben  ?  " 

I  shook  my  head. 

"  Don't  tell  me  anything  sad  now.  Poor  fellow  !  God 
help  him." 


20S  THE  MORGESONS. 

Fanny  was  talking  to  some  one  on  the  walk  ;  the  fisher- 
man  probably,  who  was  bringing  fish. 

'  Do  you  want  some  dinner  ? " 
I  have  had  no  breakfast." 
I  must  see  about  something  for  you." 
Not  to  leave  me,  Gassy." 
Just  for  a  few  minutes." 
No." 

But  I  want  to  cry  by  myself,  besides  looking  after  the 
dinner." 

"Cry  here  then,  with  me.  Come,  Cassandra,  my  wife  ! 
My  God,  I  shall  die  with  happiness." 

A  mortal  paleness  overspread  his  face. 

"  Desmond,  Desmond,  do  you  know  how  I  love  you  ? 
Feel  my  heart, — it  has  throbbed  with  the  weight  of  you  since 
that  night  in  Belem,  when  you  struck  your  head  under  the 
mantel." 

He  was  speechless.  I  murmured  loving  words  to  him, 
till  he  drew  a  deep  breath  of  life  and  strength. 

"  These  fish  are  small,"  said  Fanny  at  the  door.  "  Shall 
I  take  them  !  " 

"  Certainly,"    said  Desmond,     "  I'll  pay  for  them." 

"  It  is  Ben  in  black  lead,"  said  Fanny. 

We  laughed. 

At  dusk  Ben  and  Veronica  drove  up.  Desmond  was  seated 
in  the  window.  Ben  fixed  his  eyes  upon  him,  without  stop 
ping. 

We  ran  out,  and  called  to  him. 

"Old  fellow,"  said  Desmond,  "willing  or  not,  I  have 
come." 

Ben's  face  was  a  study  ;  so  many  emotions  assailed  him 
that  my  heart  was  wrung  with  pity. 

"  Give  her  to  me,"  Desmond  continued  in  a  touching 
voice.  "  You  are  her  oldest  friend,  and  have  aright." 

"  She  was  always  yours,"  he  answered.  "  To  contend  with 
her  was  folly." 

Veronica  took  hold  of  Ben's  chin  and  raised  his  head  to 
look  into  his  face.  "  What  dreams  have  you  had  ?" 

But  he  made  no  reply  to  her.  We  were  all  silent  for  a 
moment,  then  he  said,  "  Was  I  wrong,  Des.  ?" 

"  No,  no." 

"While,  I  was  saying  to  myself,  in  behalf  of  Veronica, 


THE  MORGESONS.  269 

whose  calm  face  baffled  me,  "  Enigma,  Sphinx  "  ;  she  turned 
to  Desmond,  holding  out  her  right  arm,  and  said,  "  You 
are  the  man  I  saw  in  my  dream." 

"  And  you  are  like  the  Virgin  I  made  an  offering  to,  only 
not  quite  so  bedizened."  He  took  her  extended  hand  and 
kissed  it. 

Ben  threw  the  reins  with  a  sudden  dash  toward  Manuel, 
who  was  standing  by,  and  jumped  down. 

"  Have  tea  with  me,"  I  asked,  "  and  music,  too.  Verry, 
will  you  play  for  Desmond  ?  " 

She  took  his  arm,  and  entered  the  house. 

"Friend,"  I  said  to  Ben,  vho  lingered  by  the  door,  "to 
contend  with  me  was  not  folly,  unless  it  has  kept  you 
from  contending  with  yourself.  Tell  me — how  is  it  with 
you  ?" 

"  Cassandra,  the  jaws  cf  hell  are  open.  If  you  are  satis 
fied  with  the  end,  I  must  be." 


After  I  was  married,  I  went  to  Belem.  But  Mrs.  Somers 
never  forgave  me  ;  and  Mr.  Somers  liked  Desmond  no  better 
than  he  had  in  former  times.  Neither  did  Adelaide  and 
Ann  ever  consider  the  marriage  in  any  light  but  that  of  a 
misalliance.  Nor  did  they  recognize  any  change  in  him. 
It  might  be  permanent,  but  it  was  no  less  an  aberration 
which  they  mistrusted.  The  ground  plan  of  the  Bellevue 
Pickersgill  character  could  not  be  altered. 

In  a  short  time  after  we  were  married  we  went  to  Europe 
and  stayed  two  years. 

These  last  words  I  write  in  the  summer  time  at  our  house 
in  Surrey,  for  Desmond  likes  to  be  here  at  this  season,  and  I 
write  in  my  old  chamber.  Before  its  windows  rolls  the  blue 
summer  sea.  Its  beauty  wears  a  relentless  aspect  to  me 
now  ;  its  eternal  monotone  expresses  no  pity,  no  compassion. 

Veronica  is  lying  on  the  floor  watching  her  year-old  baby. 
It  smiles  continually,  but  never  cries,  never  moves,  except 
when  it  is  moved.  Her  face,  thin  and  melancholy,  is  still 
calm  and  lovely.  But  her  eyes  go  no  more  in  quest  of  some 
thing  beyond.  A  wall  of  darkness  lies  before  her,  which 
she  will  not  penetrate.  Aunt  Merce  sits  near  me  with  her 
knitting.  When  I  look  at  her  I  think  how  long  it  is  since 
mother  went,  and  wonder  whether  death  is  not  a  welcome 


270  THE  MORGESONS. 

idea  to  those  who  have  died.  Aunt  Merce  looks  at  Verry 
and  the  child  with  a  sorrowful  countenance,  exchanges  a 
glance  with  me,  shakes  her  head.  If  Verry  speaks  to  her,  she 
answers  cheerfully,  and  tries  to  conceal  the  grief  which  she 
feels  when  she  sees  the  mother  and  child  together. 

Ben  has  been  dead  six  months.  Only  Desmond  and  I 
were  with  him  in  his  last  moments.  When  he  sprang  from 
his  bed,  staggered  backwards,  and  fell  dead,  ve  clung  to 
gether  with  faint  hearts,  and  mutely  questioned  each  other. 

"  God  is  the  Ruler,"  he  said  at  last.  "  Otherwise  let  this 
mad  world  crush  us  now." 


THE  END. 


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